Butler vs Arkansas 3/16/18 - NCAA Tournament Picks & Predictions

Arkansas plays Butler in the opening round of the East Regional Friday. Butler, 20-13, enters the tournament as a 10th-seed and Arkansas, 23-11, is a seventh-seed.

Arkansas ran into a hot-shooting Tennessee team in the semis of the SEC tournament, but beat No. 23 Florida in the quarterfinals. Arkansas is 8-3 over its last 11 and they beat No. 14 Auburn and No. 21 Texas A&M along the way. The Razorbacks are 5-2 against ranked teams.

Butler was ousted in the Big East Tournament by Villanova in the semis. The Bulldogs have struggled lately, losing three of the last four games, and they are 4-6 over the last 10. Butler is 1-6 against ranked teams, but that one win was over Villanova. Arkansas is a guard oriented team, led by Jaylen Barford with 18 points per game and Daryl Macon with 16.9 per game. Daniel Gafford is averaging 11.9 and 6.2 rebounds. Barford has made 85 three-pointers and is shooting 44 percent from there. Macon has 84 and is shooting 43 percent. As a team Arkansas has 265 threes and is shooting 40 percent from behind the arc. Gafford is shooting 62 percent.

Butler is led by Kelan Martin with 20.8 points and 6.2 rebounds. Kamar Baldwin is averaging 15.5 and Paul Jorgensen is averaging 10.5. The Bulldogs have 270 three-pointers and are shooting 35 percent. Martin has made 87, Jorgenson has 58 and Baldwin has 46. Sean McDermott has made 43 and is shooting 43 percent,. Four of five starters are shooting 82 or better from the foul line.