Thad Matta’s Group Looking Forward to Another Opportunity
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Tomorrow afternoon will be a busy day at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The No. 11 Purdue Boilermakers will take on the No. 17 Texas A&M Aggies at 12:00pm.
Earlier this week, Purdue’s Matt Painter joined JMV to preview another challenging game for his team and how life has been like without Zach Edey.
Following that game, the Butler Bulldogs will be taking on the No. 20 Wisconsin Badgers. Butler enters tomorrow’s contest 7-3 after falling to North Dakota State earlier in the week 71-68.
The loss on Tuesday night summarizes how the season has seemingly gone for Thad Matta’s group. Butler trailed by twenty, eventually took a second half lead, and then end up squandering a couple of opportunities late to potentially win the game.
Earlier in the year, Butler won the Arizona Tip Off by defeating Northwestern in the semifinals and then Mississippi State in the championship. Additionally, they have a win over SMU in non-conference play, but tomorrow provides another opportunity for the Bulldogs to pick up a win for its NCAA Tournament resume.
“Obviously it’s a great opportunity for us. I love the fact it’s kind of a neutral site game. They are a heck of a basketball team. It’s exactly what we are going to see for the next twenty games after Saturday in the Big East. We’re going to have to play. Obviously we’re worried about Wisconsin, but we got to worry about ourselves too. We’ve played some great basketball this year, we’ve played some not so good basketball, and we got to figure out how to play our best basketball tomorrow.” Thad Matta on Query & Company Friday afternoon.
The winner of the game will end a losing streak. Wisconsin has lost three straight contests (Michigan, Marquette, and Illinois), whereas Butler has lost back-to-back games (Houston and North Dakota State).
Saturday’s game is the first of three consecutive ranked opponents for Butler and the final non-conference game on its schedule. Following tomorrow’s contest, they will take on No. 6 Marquette (road), No. 18 UConn (home), Villanova (home), and then St. John’s (road).
Tomorrow’s contest between the Bulldogs and the Badgers is tentatively set for 2:30pm. You can watch the game in person by purchasing tickets here.
To listen to Jake Query and Jimmy Cook’s conversation with Thad Matta, download the podcast containing the conversation below! You can always listen to the Query & Company from 12pm-3pm on 93.5/107.5 The Fan. You can also watch and interact with the show by going to the 107.5 The Fan YouTube Channel.
