Butler looks to stay hot coming off a Greenbrier Tip-Off tournament victory as it welcomes Wright State to Indianapolis on Friday afternoon.
The Bulldogs took down both South Carolina and Virginia in the tourney played in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
Finley Bizjack led the way for Butler (5-1) against Virginia with 25 points despite hitting just 2 of 10 shots from beyond the arc. Michael Ajayi added 17 along with a game-high 14 rebounds for his sixth straight double-double.
Ajayi’s performance earned him not only Big East Player of the Week but also made him one of five USBWA Oscar Robertson national players of the week. Bizjack was also named to the Big East weekly honor roll.
“It was a good trip, I thought we played some good basketball, guys really competed,” Butler coach Thad Matta said in a recent radio appearance. ” … I like the direction we’re heading in.”
Bizjack leads the Bulldogs with 17.2 points per game with Ajayi averaging 15.2 points and 12.5 boards. Jamie Kaiser Jr. adds 10.8 points per game.
Wright State (4-3) has won its last two games, most recently a 79-62 win at Stetson on Tuesday.
Michael Cooper led the way with 19 points as he made 5 of 9 3-pointers. As a team, the Raiders shot 53.8% (14 of 26) from deep, two triples shy of their program’s single-game record.
Wright State also converted 13 Stetson turnovers into 25 points and dished out 17 assists on its 31 made baskets.
Raiders coach Clint Sargent has challenged his team to go all-out on defense.
“Basically, for anybody who’s not playing more minutes, it’s all defense. It’s some type of defensive coverage or awareness. We’re just really trying to keep that the main thing,” he said, per the Dayton Daily News.
Wright State was selected to finish seventh in the Horizon league preseason poll ahead of this season. The team returned six players from a season ago and welcomed four new transfers along with three freshmen.
These teams have plenty of familiarity with Butler formerly being a member of the Horizon. The Bulldogs hold an 18-12 edge in the all-time series with the last matchup being back in 2012.
