Detroit Mercy vs. Butler 2018: Time, TV channel, watch online, preview

THE FACTS

Time and Date: Monday, November 12 @ 6:30 ET

Location: Hinkle Fieldhouse — Indianapolis, Indiana

Records: Butler (1-0) | Detroit (0-2)

Rankings: Butler (#29 KenPom) | Detroit Mercy (#330 KenPom)

TV Channel: FS1

Stream: FOX Sports Go

ODDS AND ENDS

Spread: At the time of this writing, Butler is a 27-point favorite

Over/Under: Unavailable

via Oddsshark

GAME PREVIEW

Monday night, Butler tips off against an old foe, the Detroit Titans. Detroit, which previously battled Butler in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference and later the Horizon League, has struggled mightily in recent years, but hopes to be turning it around under new coach Mike Davis.

Davis took over the program in June and essentially had to build a brand new roster due to exhausted eligibility and a bevy of transfers. His biggest pick-up was his own son, Antoine Davis, who scored 32 and 30 points in Detroit’s first two contests. Nevertheless, the Titans are 0-2 and will be heavy underdogs at Hinkle.

Butler, on the other hand, is 1-0 and looked quite sharp in their debut against Miami (OHIO). The Bulldogs may have found a revelation in Joey Brunk. Brunk had his career-best game against Miami and it will be interesting to see how he follows it up.

This game will likely be nothing more than a tune-up for the Bulldogs who play Ole Miss on Friday. It will hopefully also give LaVall Jordan an opportunity to toy around with some new things and give minutes to the deep bench players.

KEYS TO THE GAME

Butler: Work on individual skills

It may be arrogant to assume that this is a freebie for Butler. That being said, it’s a freebie for Butler. The Bulldog players should put into practice some of the things they’ve been working on individually in this game and use it as a chance to improve.

Detroit: Defense

The Titans have actually scored the ball decently in the early-going, mostly because of Antoine Davis, mentioned above. Detroit has failed to compete in either of its first two games because of porous defense. Against Butler, where the Titans will be outmatched talent-wise, they will really have to play great team defense in order to keep it close. It should be a great learning opportunity for Detroit.