BUY TICKETS
Opponent: Lincoln Memorial (Exhibition)
Specifics: Saturday, November 4 | 7 p.m. ET | Hinkle Fieldhouse | Indianapolis, Ind.
TV: Neither of Butler's two exhibitions will be televised or video streamed
Radio: 1070 AM, 107.5 FM & the
TuneIn Radio app | Mark Minner (play-by-play) & Nick Gardner (analyst)
Follow Along: @ButlerMBB
Full Notes (PDF)
DRESS REHEARSAL: Butler opened the 2017-18 season with a 68-36 exhibition win over Hanover Oct. 28. Eleven Bulldogs each played between 12 and 27 minutes. Butler enjoyed a 42-8 advantage in points in the paint and turned 17 Hanover turnovers into 29 points.
Sean McDermott led Butler with 14 points and four assists.
Kamar Baldwin was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field.
Kelan Martin had a game-best six rebounds, while five of his teammates each had five boards.
A LOOK AT THE RAILSPLITTERS: Lincoln Memorial has won at least 30 games in each of the last three seasons and has made back-to-back trips to the national semifinals. The Railsplitters have won 25-plus games in seven consecutive seasons, making Lincoln Memorial the second-winningest team in Division II men's basketball of the decade.
WELCOME HOME, COACH: LaVall Jordan, who helped Butler to conference championships and NCAA Tournament appearances as both a player and an assistant coach, returns to his alma mater as the 24th head coach in men's basketball program history. Butler Vice President and Director of Athletics Barry Collier made the announcement June 12.
Jordan served as the head coach at Milwaukee during the 2016-17 season after six seasons as an assistant coach at Michigan.
BEST GUESS: BIG EAST coaches picked Butler to finish eighth in the league's preseason poll, which was released at BIG EAST Media Day Oct. 18. The Bulldogs finished second in the league standings a season ago after being picked sixth in the preseason poll.
HE'S BACK: Senior Kelan Martin has been named to the 20-member watch list for the 2018 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award. A national committee comprised of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates. Martin earned one of the spots on the preseason All-BIG EAST first team after averaging 16.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game a season ago. Those marks placed eighth and ninth, respectively, in the BIG EAST for the 2016-17 season. He shot 78 percent from the free throw line, also in the Top 10 among conference players.
He has been voted an All-BIG EAST second team performer by the conference's head coaches following each of the past two seasons.
BACK FOR MORE: The Bulldogs return three starters, including All-BIG EAST second team selection
Kelan Martin. He joins
Kamar Baldwin and
Tyler Wideman as players who started at least 21 games a season ago. They are three of six returning letterwinners.
• Shawn Vanzant, who played a large role on Butler's two Final Four teams and was part of 117 wins in his Butler career, is a graduate assistant on the Lincoln Memorial staff
• Stan Howard, the father of Butler great Matt Howard, will sing the national anthem Saturday
• This is the final tune-up for Butler prior to the team's regular season opener Friday, Nov. 10 against Kennesaw State
• Butler is receiving votes in both national polls (AP and Coaches polls), just outside the Top 25
• Butler opens the regular season with four games in nine days, followed by a flight to Portland, Ore., for the PK80 event, which features three games in four days.
