MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- Butch Estes didn't stop short of selling the Buccaneers' next opponent to a lofty pedestal, while assessing his own team.

"We've still got a lot of room for improvement. That's the good news," said Barry University's men's basketball coach, who collected his 500th career victory Wednesday. "The bad news is we're getting ready to go play one of the absolute best, maybe the best team on the entire East Coast on Saturday."

No. 23 Barry (12-2, 5-1 Sunshine State Conference) meets No. 6/7 Eckerd (15-1, 7-0) at 4 p.m. Saturday at the McArthur Center in St. Petersburg. This is the Buccaneers' first test against a Top 10 opponent since last year when they met No. 1 or 2 Florida Southern three times and No. 9 Indianapolis once.

Since dropping their season opener to Delta State, the Tritons have won a program-record 15 in a row. Eckerd has made a living on defense, holding opponents to a league-low 68.2 points per game. Teams are shooting a league-low .324 from beyond the 3-point arc against the Tritons. Eckerd is outscoring opponents by a league-best 13.5 points per game. Ironically, these are areas the Bucs have been proficient in all season. Barry leads the league in scoring at just under 94 points per game. The Bucs are second in the SSC in scoring margin at 12.2 per game. And they are second in 3-point percentage at .399, while making a league-best 11.4 triples per game.  

Something will have to give in a game that has early season conference standings implications. A win will bring Barry to the top of the league standings. A loss will give Eckerd a two-game lead.

"Like Coach said, every game from now is a big game," Barry's Yunio Barrueta said. "So yeah, we just worry about game by game."

Well, this game is now, and the Bucs know what they are encountering. Last year they survived a 111-108 double overtime win over the Tritons at the McArthur Center. Two years ago, they pulled out a 68-65 win on the same floor. Eckerd coach Tom Ryan's teams are always physical and customarily mentally tough.

For the Buccaneers, the point of emphasis lately is getting stops. Barry's last two opponents have shot over 70 percent in either the first or second half.  

"The area of improvement for us is defensively, intensity wise when we get the lead and really putting the foot down to try and put people away," Estes said. "You're going to have a hard time getting me off the defensive end of the floor. I am so unhappy and challenged to see if I can get these guys to play better defense."

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