The Siena Saints (22-5, 15-1) journey to fabled Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday morning where they will face the Butler Bulldogs (24-4, 17-0) in the most anticipated Bracketbuster pairing of the year.  The Saints relinquished their 15 game win streak last Friday at Niagara, and they now face the team who currently owns the nation’s longest winning streak at 16 games in a row.  The Saints have made huge strides the last two years, reaching the round of 32 both times in the NCAA tournament, but they still want what Butler has – sustained success as one of the top 25 teams in the nation while still being considered a mid major.   Saturday’s game gives themselves, and the rest of the country, the chance to see how the Saints stack up against one of the best teams in the country in the Saints’ last chance to get a signature win before the NCAA tourney.

Siena and Butler are almost mirror images of each other:  Matt Howard and Ryan Rossiter, Alex Franklin and Willie Veasley, Gordon Hayward and Edwin Ubiles, Clarence Jackson and Shelvin Mack, Ronald Norad vs. Ronald Moore – the match-ups are without a doubt the most intriguing thing entering Saturday morning’s game.

BACKCOURT

The Butler guards, Mack and Norad, combine for 6.8 assists per game, while Ronald Moore continues to lead the country in assists with 7.7 per game – the Butler guards, though combine for 23.5 points per game while Moore and Jackson combine for 20.3 points per game.  Like each match-up, you could basically toss a coin to pick which side has the edge.

Butler is going to be successful if they can contain Moore and keep him from getting in the lane, which is where he does most of his damage finding open teammates, and making sure to stay out on Jackson to contain him from beyond the arc.  Of course, staying out on the perimeter shooters can lead to gaps inside, which would be one advantage for the Saints.

While Moore is basically a one man assist machine running the point for the Saints, the green and gold will need to contain two players who distribute the ball well – and Mack is a scorer too, averaging 13.5 per game, so the Butler back court may have the advantage Saturday morning.  The one trademark of Siena, though, when they show energy and play a full 40 minutes, is how effective their team defense can be.  The Saints will need to contain both guards in terms of distributing and scoring the ball – fundamental tenets, but important nonetheless.

FRONTCOURT

The front court of both teams have so much talent, one has to think the outcome of the game is going to rest in the play of the forwards.  Each match-up is incredibly compelling.  The most important could be between Matt Howard and Ryan Rossiter.  Sure, Haywood and Ubiles are going to be lighting it up on the wing, but what happens in the paint could determine the outcome.  The reason?  Howard, as strong and talented as he is, can find foul trouble fairly easily.  The issue?  Ryan Rossiter doesn’t.  Nor do the Saints as a team, who rank second in the country in fouls committed per game with 13.9.  If Howard gets in to foul trouble, the Saints have an incredible opportunity to leave Hinkle with a win.  Howard averages 12 points and 5 rebounds per game, but Rossiter averages a double-double, and has had 11 in his last 12 games after going for 15 points and 17 boards against Canisius. Don’t let Rossiter’s looks fool you – he’s done it amongst the best in the country, going for 16 and 15 in last year’s win over Ohio St. in the NCAA tournament, 12 and 14 last year against Tennessee, and 24 and 13 against St. John’s this year.

Hayward and Ubiles, though, will be the marquee pairing of the day, even if Edwin hasn’t been putting up the numbers everyone knows he’s capable of.  Hayward, the 6′8, 200 pound Sophomore wing, is a complete player, though he’s been struggling with his shooting recently as well.  The key to this match-up will be the defense of Edwin – he is basically considered the team’s best on the ball defender.  He has shut down the best player on opposing teams consistently, and has been just as reliable on the defensive end as he is when he is called upon to put the team on his back offensively.

Luckily, Edwin hasn’t needed to do that much with the play of Alex Franklin.  The 6′5 Franklin will most likely match up against 6′3 combo guard/forward Senior Willie Veasley who is averaging just over 10ppg.  Franklin is the front runner for Player of the Year in the MAAC conference, and even though he stumbled against Niagara last week because of foul trouble, he returned to form against Canisius on Sunday, scoring 26 points and grabbing 7 rebounds.  If nothing else, Franklin has come up huge in almost every important game during his career – if he performs as well as he is capable of the Saints will have a great shot at pulling the upset on the road.

COACHES

Brad Stevens and Fran McCaffery run two very different systems – Stevens will run a wide array of plays, while McCaffery’s players are free to play within the coach’s motion offense.  In what may as be unpredictable as the player match-ups will be how both teams adjust – will Butler be able to break the pressure defense of the Saints, and if they do get pressed will they need to improvise a little more?  Will the Saints find themselves in a half-court game where they will need to run more set plays than usual?  The coaching of both teams is seasoned and experienced, and should add even more shine to the luster of one of the best basketball games on TV on Saturday.