Men's Basketball Preview vs Cowley (February 22nd)

Cowley at #RV Butler

Wednesday, February 22nd | 7:30 PM Tipoff

The Power Plant | El Dorado, Kansas

Watch Live: butlergrizzlies.com/watchlive

Dennis Higgins Radio Broadcast: N/A

Live Stats: tinyurl.com/bddzp3ka

Series Since 2011: Butler leads 13-8 | Last Meeting: January 7th, 2023: Butler won 87-81 at Cowley 

Massey Ratings Score Prediction (masseyratings.com): Cowley 67, Butler 72

Other Massey Ratings Insights: Chance to win %: Butler 64%, Cowley 36%, Betting line: Butler -4.5, Game O/U: 138.5 points

Notes Compiled by Wyatt Ebersole

Opening notes: 

• The Butler Grizzlies will host one of their longtime rivals, the Cowley Tigers, on Wednesday night at 7:30 in the Power Plant in El Dorado
• The Grizzlies are looking to continue their fight in the battle to claim a first-round bye in the upcoming Region VI Playoffs (currently in a tie for third place)
• The Grizzlies are looking for the season sweep of the Tigers for the second straight year as Butler won the first matchup of the year on January 7th, 87-81 at Cowley
• Butler has won seven of their last ten games, but have lost two of their last three
• Cowley has been up and down all season and have won only four of their last ten games, but have only lost two of those games by more than nine points
• Butler is 8-3 at home against Cowley since 2011 and 3-1 in the Kyle Fisher era (since 2019)
• Interestingly, the Grizzlies are 7-3 against the top six teams in the conference and 7-3 against the bottom six of the conference
• Last time at Cowley: The Grizzlies overcame a 20-point deficit in the game to stun Cowley 87-81 on their home floor. Isaiah Williams poured in 24 points in the win
• The Grizzlies have the #2 scoring defense in the conference 
• Butler is 11-2 this season playing against unranked teams (only losses are vs Colby and at NW Tech)
• Butler is a dominant 48-8 at home since Kyle Fisher took over as head coach of the Grizzlies
• Cowley is 31-28 since their current coach, Donnie Jackson took over the program prior to last season
• Butler is 10-2 at home this year
• The Grizzlies are 3-5 this year when playing on a Wednesday and are 2-2 at home on Wednesdays 

Last action for the Grizzlies 

Wednesday, February 15th | Butler 52, Barton 81 

• The Butler Men suffered an ugly loss on the road to the Barton Cougars 52-81 last Wednesday
• The 29-point defeat was the Grizzlies largest margin of defeat this season, shattering their previously worst defeat of 15 points that they suffered in a 44-59 loss at Cloud County
• The Grizzlies shot just 32.0% from the field, their second worst mark of the season
• The Butler Men made 17 free throws in the game, their fifth straight game making at least 17 shots from the charity stripe

Scouting the Tigers

• The Tigers are in their second season under the direction of former Tonkawa Mavericks head coach Donnie Jackson
• The Tigers leading scorer this season is Mekhi Cameron who averages 17.7 points per game. The only Tiger to average double-digit points per game this season
• Cameron is the only Tiger to start in all 27 games this year
• Cowley has the third worst scoring offense in the Jayhawk Conference
• The Tigers scored 90 points in their win over Colby last Saturday, the second most points they have scored on a conference opponent this season 

Notes about the series

• Butler leads the series 13-8 since 2011 and Butler has won the last four matchups and they haven't lost to Cowley since March 29th, 2021, when Cowley won 94-81 at the Power Plant in El Dorado
• Three of those four Grizzly wins have been decided by less than ten points
• Butler defeated Cowley in the Region VI Quarterfinals last season in dramatic fashion 59-53

NO LEAD IS SAFE WHEN THE GRIZZLIES ARE BEHIND

• The Butler Men have overcome four double-digit, second half deficits this season 

A Grizzly W would…

• Improve them to 21-7 overall and 15-7 in conference play
• Give them a bounce back win
• Move them to 11-2 on the road this season
• Be their fifth straight win against Cowley
• Keep them in the top four in the Jayhawk Conference, meaning that they would still control their own destiny to obtain a first-round bye in the approaching Region VI Playoffs 

A Grizzly L would… 

• Drop them to 20-8 overall and 14-8 in conference play
• Be their second straight loss
• Break their six-game winning streak at home
• Drop the Grizzlies out of the top four in the conference (combined with a win by Garden City)

Looking ahead

The Grizzlies travel to Garden City on Saturday for a huge matchup with the Garden City Broncbusters that will be a battle for fourth place in the conference standings