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NCAAB

Butler v Gonzaga

It’s going to be a dogfight.

The Butler Bulldogs are searching for their first road win of the season and it won’t come easy against a Gonzaga Bulldogs squad that are 4-1 at home this season, and are coming off two consecutive wins including an 11-point victory over Arizona their last time out.

Date/Time: 9:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Venue: McCarthey Athletic Center, Spokane, Washington
Broadcast: ESPN2
Spread: Gonzaga -13.5
Over/Under: 134

It goes without saying that Butler just isn’t having a good year, and are by no means the team we have seen over the past two seasons. But Brad Stevens’ squad showed last Saturday that they aren’t going to quit and they aren’t going to back down or be intimidated.

After trailing for much of the game, the Bulldogs outscored the Purdue Boilermakers 32-19 in the second half en route to a narrow 67-65 victory a Conseco Fieldhouse.

Butler pushed hard and won the rebounding battle with 25 defensive boards and overwhelmed Purdue with threes for the win, shooting 43 percent.

Andrew Smith and Kameron Woods led all scoring against the Boilermakers with 12 points each.

As a team Butler is averaging 65.7 points and they are shooting just 39.1 percent, while defensively they are allowing 64 points and shooting 41.6 percent. The rank just 308 for offensive field goal percentage, shooting 38.1 percent.

That’s not going to make things easy against a Gonzaga squad that is shooting 44.9 percent while hitting an very good 70.2 percent from the foul line and nearly 40 percent from from three-point range so far this season.

Robert Sacre is averaging 14.9 points and 7.2 rebounds, and along with Elias Harris, who was the high scorer for the Bulldogs with 25 points in their recent bout with the Wildcats, have helped Gonzaga to rebound after taking their first two losses of the season, to win their next two games and appear to once again be a force on the college basketball scene.

I see Gonzaga winning this one fairly easily, especially of Butler sends them to the charity strips on a regular basis. But if your betting the spread, it may be a lot closer than the 13.5 points their giving.

Free Pick: Gonzaga

By Cappers Picks

Articles on CappersPicks.com are written by Q (the Head Honcho) at Cappers Picks or by our resident "in house" handicapper Razor Ray Monohan! Enjoy the free picks folks! "Pad that bankroll one day at a time!"