Opponent: Middle Tennessee State (No. 12 Seed - South Region)
Specifics: Saturday, March 18 |  7:10 p.m. ET  |  BMO Harris Bradley Center  |  Milwaukee, Wis.
TV: TBS  |  Carter Blackburn, Mike Gminski, Debbie Antonelli & Lisa Byington
Radio: 93.5 FM & 1070 AM  |  Mark Minner (play-by-play) & Nick Gardner (analyst)
Follow Along: @ButlerMBB

Full Notes (PDF)

MARCHING ON: Butler, the No. 4 seed in the South Region, continues play in Milwaukee with an NCAA Tournament second round match-up with No. 12 seed Middle Tennessee State. The tip is set for 7:10 p.m. (Eastern) Saturday and will air nationally on TBS. The Bulldogs have a record of 24-8. MTSU, the champions of Conference USA, are 31-4.
 
OPENING DAY: The Bulldogs used a 42-27 rebounding edge and 20 points at the free throw line to get by Winthrop, 76-64, in Thursday's first round game. The Bulldogs shot 49 percent from the field and put the game away with a 12-2 run midway through the second half after Winthrop had cut the lead to seven (48-41) at the 13:19 mark.
 
ARRIVE AND ADVANCE: For the third consecutive season under coach Chris Holtmann, the Bulldogs not only made the NCAA Tournament, but they have won their first round game. Butler defeated Texas in the 2015 Tournament, followed by a win over Texas Tech in 2016. In the previous two seasons, the Bulldogs' season has been halted in the Round of 32.
 
Holtmann and Brad Stevens are the only two coaches in Butler history to lead their teams to the NCAA Tournament in each of their first three seasons on the Butler sidelines.
 
HIGH SEED: The Bulldogs have put together arguably the most impressive regular season in program history, which was validated with a No. 4 seed by the NCAA Men's Basketball Committee. Butler was the No. 13 overall seed in the committee's 1-68 rankings, making Butler the highest-ranked of the four No. 4 seeds. The No. 4 seed is the best in Butler history. Butler's previous high seed was a No. 5 seed in both 2007 and 2010.
 
FIRST TIME'S THE CHARM: Graduate student Avery Woodson had never played in an NCAA Tournament game prior to Thursday, and he didn't waste any time jumping in on the action. Woodson made two three-pointers in the first 2:01 of the game and five in the first half. He finished the game with 18 points on six three-pointers. The six triples tied a career-high, while the 18 points were just shy of his season-high of 20 points.
 
Thursday was Woodson's fourth game this season leading the Bulldogs in scoring. Butler is 3-1 in those games. It was the first time Woodson had paced the Bulldogs since a season-best 20 points against St. John's Feb. 15.
 
START TO FINISH: Butler never trailed in Thursday's game with Winthrop and the game was only tied for 19 seconds prior to the Bulldogs taking the first 2-0 lead. It was Butler's fifth game this season where the Bulldogs never trailed.
 
HANDING 'EM OUT: Senior Tyler Lewis had eight assists against Winthrop, which was just one off Butler's NCAA Tournament high of nine (Mike Monserez vs. Louisville, 2003). The eight helpers were also one shy of Lewis's season-high of nine against St. John's Feb. 15.
 
The Bulldogs are 14-3 this season when Lewis has four or more assists.
 
ON THE GLASS: The Bulldogs are now 16-2 on the season when pulling down more caroms than their opponent, as they did Thursday. Butler out-rebounded Winthrop, 42-27. The +15 rebounding mark tied Butler's highest advantage of the season (40-25 vs. St. John's Feb. 15).
 
DOWN THE STRETCH: Since returning to the starting line-up Feb. 7 at Marquette, Avery Woodson is averaging 11.4 points per game and shooting 48 percent from behind the arc (nine games). If you remove the BIG EAST Tournament game against Xavier when Woodson was limited to 13 minutes due to a foot injury, Woodson's marks are 12.9 points and 50 percent (27-54) from long range.
 
WINNING THE FIRST ONE: The Bulldogs are now 10-1 in their last 11 first round contests in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs' most recent first round loss came in 2009.
 
Butler is 9-0 in NCAA Tournament play as the better-seeded team.
 
SHOTS FIRED: When shooting a better percentage than its opponent, Butler is 19-0 this season and 54-2 under head coach Chris Holtmann. The Bulldogs shot 49 percent Thursday compared to just 40 percent for Winthrop. Keon Johnson and Xavier Cooks combined for 40 points for Winthrop, but needed an inefficient 41 shots to post that total.
 
Butler has shot 50 percent or better from the field 12 times this season. The Bulldogs are 11-1 in those games.
 
THAT BELONGS TO US: On the season, the Bulldogs are averaging only 10.2 turnovers per game. That mark is eighth nationally. Butler had a season-low four turnovers – including none in the second half – against Marquette Jan. 16. The Bulldogs have posted 10 or fewer miscues in 15 games this season and are 12-3 in those games.
 
Butler committed 12 turnovers against Winthrop Thursday while the Eagles had only nine. It was only the seventh time this season that Butler has had more turnovers than its opponent. The Bulldogs are 6-1 in those games.
 
OFF THE BENCH: In BIG EAST play, Butler's bench out-scored the opponent's reserves by a combined score of 514-255, which is a 14.4-point advantage on average per game. Butler's bench out-scored the opponent's in 16 of its 18 BIG EAST games this season.
 
Butler had a 28-9 bench advantage Thursday over Winthrop as Kelan Martin led the Bulldogs off the bench with 10 points.
 
STOPPING A SKID: Following a loss, the Bulldogs are now 23-5 under coach Chris Holtmann. That includes a 6-2 mark this season. Butler has never had a three-game losing streak under Holtmann. The Bulldogs entered the NCAA Tournament by dropping two straight before knocking off Winthrop Thursday.
 
PLAYING THE FIELD: Butler's season-long resume includes a 14-5 regular season record against the 12 teams that made the 2017 tournament field. The Bulldogs played NCAA Tournament teams in 19 of their 31 games this season, including non-conference wins over Arizona, Cincinnati, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Vermont, and Bucknell.
 
THAT'S GOOD COMPETITION: Entering the NCAA Tournament, Butler was 16-5 against teams ranked in the NCAA RPI Top 100, with nine of those wins coming against the Top 50 (not counting a win over No. 51 Northwestern). Those nine wins against the RPI Top 50 trail only Duke (13), Villanova (12), North Carolina (11), and Florida State (11). Baylor also has nine wins.
 
The Bulldogs went 2-0 this season against the NCAA Tournament's overall No. 1 seed and defending national champion Villanova. Butler provided the Wildcats with two of their three losses this season.
 
SEVEN OF TEN: The BIG EAST had 70 percent of its membership make the 2017 NCAA Tournament field as Butler joined Villanova, Creighton, Seton Hall, Providence, Marquette, and Xavier. The BIG EAST was tied with the Big Ten at seven bids, trailing only the nine from the ACC. However, no conference matched the BIG EAST's 70 percent placement rate.
 
HOT STREAK: Butler has been in the field for nine of the last 11 NCAA Tournaments, only missing out in 2012 and 2014. This is Butler's 15^th NCAA Tournament appearance and the Bulldogs now have a 22-14 all-time mark in tournament play. After appearing in the 1962 NCAA Tournament, 14 of the appearances have come in the last 21 years.
 
'BIGLY' EAST PERFORMANCE: Butler's 12-6 BIG EAST record placed the Bulldogs solely in second place in the conference standings. The mark ties the 2014-15 team (Chris Holtmann's first season as head coach) as Butler's best record since joining the BIG EAST for the 2013-14 season. The 2014-15 team tied for second in the standings but entered the BIG EAST Tournament as the No. 3 seed.
 
INDIVIDUAL HONORS: A trio of Bulldogs earned All-BIG EAST honors as announced by the BIG EAST Conference March 5. The league's 10 head coaches made the selections. Senior forward Andrew Chrabascz was selected to the first team, while junior forward Kelan Martin earned second-team honors. Kamar Baldwin was a unanimous selection to the conference's All-Freshman Team.
 
HEAD HONCHO: Butler's Chris Holtmann was named BIG EAST Coach of the Year on March 8. The 10 BIG EAST coaches voted for the Coach of the Year. Holtmann, while at Gardner-Webb, was selected as the 2013 Big South Conference Coach of the Year. In his first season at Butler, Holtmann was selected as a finalist for both the Naismith and Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Awards. Butler's win over Vermont Dec. 21 was Holtmann's 100^th career win. The last Butler coach to earn conference Coach of the Year honors was Brad Stevens, who was selected for the Horizon League accolades in 2010.
 
EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS: BIG EAST coaches picked Butler to finish sixth in the league's preseason poll this season. The Bulldogs finished second in the league standings. It is reminiscent of Chris Holtmann's first season as head coach at Butler (2014-15) when the league's coaches picked Butler to tie for seventh and the Bulldogs instead finished in a tie for second place.
 
MAGIC NUMBER: Butler is now 33-1 under Chris Holtmann when scoring 80 or more points, including a 12-1 mark this season. The Bulldogs have gotten to 80 points thanks to strong 20-minute performances on several occasions. Butler scored 50 points in the second half of its win at Xavier Feb. 26. It was the sixth time this season that the Bulldogs posted 50 or more points in a half. It was the second time against Xavier this season. Butler also put up more than 50 in both halves against St. John's Feb. 15 (110-86 win).
 
THE WIN AT VILLANOVA: Butler's win snapped a 48-game winning streak for the Wildcats at The Pavilion, one that dates back to 2013. No. 2 Villanova also serves as Butler's highest-ranked true road win in program history, besting a win at No. 10 Wisconsin during the 2000-01 season.
 
Butler has three wins in program history against teams ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in the AP Poll. Two of the three wins have come this season (both over Villanova), joining a 2012 Crossroads Classic victory over Indiana.
 
ON THE DEFENSIVE: Butler is 18-1 when its opponent scores less than 70 points, and the Bulldogs are 6-7 on the season when their opponent scores 70 or more. The Bulldogs held Winthrop to 64 points Thursday.