No. 17 Houston bids to step up defensively vs. Butler

After a pair of losses at the inaugural Players Era Festival in Las Vegas dropped No. 17 Houston sharply down the national rankings, the Cougars will look to extend their 25-game home-court winning streak when they host Butler on Saturday in the Big East-Big 12 Battle.

Houston (4-3) opened the season ranked No. 4 but has endured a surprisingly uneven start. Neutral-site losses to Auburn and Alabama preceded a 73-70 setback in overtime to San Diego State in the third-place game in Las Vegas.

And while Houston has maintained its national ranking, the Cougars haven't consistently played their usual stifling brand of defense despite being ranked third nationally in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom.

"I think we have a defensive identity, it's just being consistent with it," Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. "We probably defended Auburn as well as anybody at a certain point, and then we got inconsistent. There's a reason we're up nine on Auburn. There's a reason we went from down eight to up four on Alabama. It's not because you're scoring, it's because you're getting stops. If you're trading baskets with them you never catch up or you never build a lead.

"We've always prided ourselves on playing (quality defense). We're just not consistent enough yet, and those are things we've been working on this week."

Butler (7-1) earned its sixth consecutive victory with a 73-58 win over Eastern Illinois on Tuesday. The matchup with Houston is not only the Bulldogs' first true road contest this season but also marks the start of a five-game stretch featuring four ranked opponents.

Butler is 3-1 in the Big East-Big 12 Battle, with victories over Texas Tech (2023), Kansas State (2022) and Oklahoma (on the road in 2021) and a road loss to Baylor in 2019.

This will mark just the second meeting between Butler and Houston, with the Cougars winning the previous matchup 70-52 on Nov. 22, 2021, when the Maui Invitational was played in Las Vegas.

Bulldogs coach Thad Matta praised his team after it "played hard and played Butler basketball" following wins over Northwestern and then-No. 25 Mississippi State in the Arizona Tip-Off over Thanksgiving. The Bulldogs' style of play is easily identifiable and the reason behind their success. Butler ranks fifth nationally in field goal percentage defense at 36.1 percent.

Offensively, the Bulldogs are shooting 41.8 percent on 3-pointers, which ranks seventh nationally, while averaging 19.8 made free throws per game, good enough for 11th nationally. Butler has excelled despite a turnover margin of minus-6.1 which is 354th nationally.

Jahmyl Telfort (17.9), Pierre Brooks II (14.5) and Patrick McCaffery (13.5) are all averaging double digits in scoring for the Bulldogs.

Telfort and Brooks were named to the All-Tournament Team at the Arizona Tip-Off, with the former earning MVP honors after averaging 23.5 points in the two-game event. Telfort, whose scoring average ranks fourth in the Big East, scored 20 points along with McCaffery in the victory over Eastern Illinois.

--Field Level Media