Struggling Butler hopes trip to Georgetown sparks turnaround

Since joining the Big East, Butler has experienced great success in the nation's capital and will hope that trend continues Friday when they visit Georgetown in a matchup of two teams in dire need of a victory.

Butler (9-12, 2-8) has matched its worst 10-game start in the Big East since its inaugural season of 2013-14. Despite forcing overtime in an eventual 80-78 loss at then-No. 19 UConn on Jan. 21, the Bulldogs remain winless on the road.

If there was ever a spot for Thad Matta to right the ship away from home, it's at Georgetown.

Since returning to Butler, Matta has guided the Bulldogs to two convincing wins in Washington. Last season Butler won 90-66 after registering an 80-51 victory in 2023.

Overall, Butler is 8-3 at Georgetown and has won eight straight on Georgetown's primary home court at Capital One Arena downtown. Butler did drop its lone visit to the Hoyas' on-campus arena in 2021.

On Tuesday, Butler let a halftime lead slip away in a 78-69 loss to No. 9 Marquette despite Jahmyl Telfort's 24 points. The Bulldogs shot 57.1 percent in the first half but cooled off to 25.8 percent after the break.

"There comes a point where you're struggling to score and especially when you're playing a team like Marquette it starts to weigh on your defense," Matta said.

"It starts to wear you down defensively. As a coach you don't want that to happen."

If there's a team that knows all too well about struggling to score, it's Georgetown.

The Hoyas (13-8, 4-6) have lost six of seven and scored their fewest points in a game since the 2012-13 season in Tuesday's 66-41 loss to No. 15 St. John's.

It left coach Ed Cooley searching for answers as to how to improve the offensive output.

"It could be a lot of different things," Cooley said after the Hoyas were held below 70 points for the ninth time in 10 conference games.

"... 41 points in a high-major game. We scored 60-something points in our last game. I don't know if we got to 70 since December in a Big East game. We need to look at our offense, our shot selection."

Malik Mack was the only Hoya in double figures with 13 points but committed six of Georgetown's 16 turnovers. The Hoyas had a season-low six assists and shot 24.6 percent from the field. Georgetown has shot less than 50 percent from the field in eight consecutive games, going 2-6.

Leading scorer Thomas Sorber (14.5 ppg) earned his fifth Big East Freshman of the Week award on Monday. Butler is led by Telfort (16.2 ppg) and Pierre Brooks II (14.9).

--Field Level Media