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D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera deserved better than this. He's the big time senior on a squad which has largely underachieved around him. He's going to finish his career as the fifth greatest scorer in the history of the Georgetown Hoyas' basketball program, and he'll suit up for the final time at the Verizon Center on Saturday against the Butler Bulldogs.
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SCHEDULING
The schedule isn't really a problem for either of these teams, especially knowing that both will have all week to prepare for this one without a midweek game. This really is all about the emotions around this game, and live bettors will have to figure out how to manage that on both sides.
In Butler's case, this game is all about the NCAA Tournament. This is one of these no-win games. A win is supposed to be had, but the game is on the road, and Georgetown's slumping RPI numbers will put a huge dent in an already fragile resume. The Bulldogs are too close to the cut line right now to risk a loss like this one.
For Georgetown, this game is all about sending Smith-Rivera out on a high. He's still got an outside chance to score 2,000 points in his career with a nice run in a couple weeks in the Big East Tournament and perhaps in a postseason tourney as well, but he's going to be all about this win. You just know that Smith-Rivera isn't going to leave the court until the clock strikes zero, especially after he played all 40 minutes against Butler in the first meeting of the year.
KEY MATCHUP
Talking about Smith-Rivera and his points are all fine and dandy, but someone is going to have to put a body on Kelan Martin for the Bulldogs. Butler's leading scorer had 35 when these two teams got together, and there was just no answer for him.
Georgetown has had problems in the paint for weeks now, and that's why it has dropped six of its last seven games, and Martin could throw his weight around in the low block and get to the foul line a ton as he did in the first meeting. If the Hoyas don't have an answer for Martin in this game, that's only going to open up the rest of a very dangerous Butler offense. Stopping him though, could at least keep this score low enough to give Smith-Rivera a chance to take things over by himself.
KEY STATS & TRENDS
That loss to kick off February in Indianapolis really was the beginning of the end for the Hoyas. Since then, Georgetown is just 1-6 SU and 2-5 ATS, and the one SU win came against lowly St. John's. Granted, the schedule has been tough, but against Xavier on Saturday, John Thompson III's team looked completely lethargic, particularly on the defensive end where it allowed 88 points.
Georgetown has played five of its last seven games past the total, and over bettors will want to take note of that in live betting in this NCAAB game. In Butler's last four wins, it has scored a minimum of 41 points in the second half, all four of which have had a total of at least 76 points. That might not be quite enough in the second half of this one for live bettors, knowing that the total was 143.5 in the first meeting and will likely be a tad higher in this one, but it's a good reference point to remember, especially if the game is close enough for foul shots down the stretch.
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