The Butler Bulldogs will head out on the road to take on the Independence Patriots at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
Butler is headed into the match having just suffered their closest defeat since January 7th on Friday. They fell just short of Charlotte Catholic by a score of 52-50. While losing is never fun, the Bulldogs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 119th, while the Cougars are ranked 34th).
Meanwhile, everything went Independence's way against Rocky River on Tuesday as Independence made off with a 71-49 win. The Patriots have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight contests by 21 points or more this season.
Independence's win came from a few key players Butler will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Kaleb Jasper, who went 6 for 14 on his way to 21 points along with five boards and four steals. That's the most steals he has posted since back in January of 2024. Another player making a difference was Lusemo Macharia, who went 5 of 9 to rack up 12 points in addition to eight rebounds and four blocks.
Independence smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive boards they've managed all season.
Independence is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 18-5 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.8 points over those games. As for Butler, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 13-10.
Butler beat Independence 56-44 when the teams last played back in January. The rematch might be a little tougher for Butler since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
