GAME 23:  Bulldogs (15-7, 5-4 BIG EAST) vs. Marquette (13-8, 4-5)
Wednesday, Jan. 31  |  9 p.m. ET  
Milwaukee, Wis.  |  BMO Harris Bradley Center
TV: FS1  |  Jeff Levering & Stephen Bardo
Radio: 93.1 FM & TuneIn Radio App  |  @MarkMinner & @n_gardner 
@ButlerMBB  |  ButlerSports.com

Full Notes (PDF)

THE SERIES: Butler holds a 21-17 advantage in the all-time series with Marquette, including a 94-83 win at Hinkle Jan. 12. The Bulldogs have won four straight match-ups, and have a 7-2 advantage in games played since Butler joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season.
 
The teams first played Dec. 16, 1922. The teams actually met twice in the 2012-13 season prior to Butler joining the league as the Bulldogs won in the Maui Invitational and Marquette won in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, which ended up being Brad Stevens' final game as coach of the Bulldogs.
 
• In seven career games against Marquette, Kelan Martin has three 20+ point games, including 37 in the Jan. 12 meeting with the Golden Eagles.
• Kamar Baldwin averages 15.0 points per game in three previous meetings with Marquette.
• Tyler Wideman had 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting against Marquette Jan. 12
• Wideman leads the BIG EAST in field goal percentage at .679.
• Butler is 11-1 this season at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
• KenPom considers Butler's schedule to date to be the 12th-toughest among the nation's 351 teams.
• Butler allowed St. John's only 45 points Saturday, the Bulldogs' fewest points allowed against a BIG EAST opponent since joining the conference prior to the 2013-14 season.
 
FIRST TIME AROUND: The Bulldogs posted a 94-83 win over Marquette Jan. 12 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Senior Kelan Martin scored a career-high 37 points on 12-of-17 shooting. He led a Butler offense that shot 59 percent from the field. Butler had 60 points in the paint and assisted on 19 of 38 made field goals. Kamar Baldwin added 19 points.
 
LOCKING IT DOWN: Marquette's backcourt duo of Markus Howard and Andrew Rowsey entered the Jan. 12 game averaging a combined 49.2 points per game in BIG EAST play. Butler limited them to 31. Howard was scoreless in the first half and was 0-of-4 from behind the arc.
 
PROTECT THE ROCK: Butler committed a season-low three turnovers in the Jan. 12 win over Marquette. That is the lowest total since the Bulldogs also committed only three miscues against Creighton on January 14, 2014.
 
Butler is averaging only 9.7 turnovers per game in BIG EAST play (and 11.3 in all games this season). The 11.3 turnovers per game is second in the BIG EAST and 27th nationally.
 
GO LOW: In Saturday's win over St. John's, Butler's defense limited the Red Storm to only 45 points, including 15 in the first half. The 45 points match the season-best total that Butler allowed to Saint Louis in a 75-45 win Dec. 2. The 45 points allowed are the fewest by a Butler opponent during the Bulldogs' tenure in the BIG EAST. The previous low was 46 points scored by DePaul in a 79-46 Butler win March 6, 2014.
 
Butler's defense limited Shamorie Ponds to two points on 0-for-12 shooting. He entered the contest averaging 20.0 points per game.
 
The 45 points and 29-percent shooting are the best defensive numbers put up by any BIG EAST team in conference play so far this season.
 
PUTTING THE D IN DAWGS: Butler entered Saturday's game with St. John's allowing an average of 82.9 points through eight BIG EAST contests. The Bulldogs limited the Red Storm to 45 points, a figure that BIG EAST opponents had scored in six of the 16 halves against Butler so far this season. Butler's first six BIG EAST foes each scored 83 or more points against the Bulldogs, but the last three have averaged only 60.7 per game.
 
TAKE TWO: Butler's first nine BIG EAST games have included one game against each of the nine BIG EAST teams. The Bulldogs are the only BIG EAST school that has yet to play a team twice; Butler is also the only BIG EAST school has played all nine conference foes at this point in the season.
 
EIGHT IS NOT ENOUGH: With his 19 points Saturday, Kelan Martin passed Billy Shepherd (1969-72) and moved into eighth on Butler's scoring list with 1,736 career points. Martin is nine points from passing Darin Archbold (1988-92) for the seventh spot.
 
At 19.6 points per game, Martin is on pace for the highest single-season scoring average since Archbold averaged 24.8 in 1991-92.
 
HINKLE-COURT ADVANTAGE: Butler is now 11-1 this season at Hinkle Fieldhouse. At Hinkle, the Bulldogs are averaging 87.0 points per game while shooting 53 percent from the field. Butler has reached 80 points in 10 of the games. Butler is 4-6 away from its home court, averaging 70.1 ppg on 41-percent shooting.
 
BIGGEST IN THE BIG EAST: Kelan Martin leads the BIG EAST with a 22.1 points per game scoring average in conference games. He is fourth in the league in scoring when factoring in non-conference contests. Martin has scored 20 points or more in six of the nine BIG EAST games (with an additional game scoring 19).
 
Teammate Kamar Baldwin is sixth in the conference in scoring in BIG EAST games at 20.1 points per game.
 
MORE ON MARTIN: Kelan Martin has 13 20-point games this season to go along with five double-doubles. He has made nine three-pointers over the past two games with the five at DePaul Jan. 20 tying a career-high.
 
Martin's 37 points against Marquette Jan. 12 were the most by a Butler player in 20 years (Matthew Graves, now the head coach at South Alabama, scored 42 points against Cleveland State on Jan. 15, 1998).
 
BOARD WORK: Senior Tyler Wideman set a new career-high with 11 rebounds in Saturday's win over St. John's. It marked the fifth time in his career (and first this season) that Wideman pulled down double-digit boards. Wideman has led the team in rebounding five times this season and 23 times in his career. His average of 5.0 rebounds per game is third on the team.
 
ON THE GLASS: Sophomore Kamar Baldwin, standing 6-foot-1, has pulled down five or more rebounds in 12 straight games. His nine rebounds at DePaul Jan. 20 matched a season-high and were two shy of his career-high set as a freshman. Baldwin averages 5.4 rebounds on the year. That average improves to 6.8 in BIG EAST play, good for seventh in the conference. Baldwin is the only player listed shorter than 6-6 to be among the BIG EAST's top 10 rebounders in conference play.
 
Baldwin averages 1.6 steals per game this season, good for fourth in the BIG EAST.
 
50 OR BETTER: Including Saturday's win over St. John's, Butler is now 13-0 when shooting a better field goal percentage than its opponent. The Bulldogs are also 11-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field, a mark they last hit Jan. 20 at DePaul.
 
HANDING THEM OUT: Aaron Thompson handed out a career-high eight assists Jan. 20 at DePaul. It topped his previous career-best mark of six, which he had done twice (at Maryland and vs. Youngstown State). Thompson has registered four or more assists in 12 games so far during his freshman season. Thompson's average of 3.7 assists per game is ninth in the conference.
 
+10: Butler had a 42-32 advantage in rebounding in Saturday's win over St. John's. It was the second time in the team's nine BIG EAST contests that the Bulldogs have had a +10 or better margin on the boards (Butler out-rebounded Villanova, 37-26, Dec. 30).
 
TOEING THE LINE: Butler is shooting 76 percent from the free throw line as a team this season. The Bulldogs made 21 of 25 attempts at the free throw line Jan. 20 at DePaul. That was the ninth time this season that Butler shot 80 percent or better from the charity stripe. Butler was 12-of-14 (.857) in the Jan. 12 win over Marquette.
 
'BIG' EAST PLAY: Kamar Baldwin has three career games where he has scored 25 or more points. All three of those have come since BIG EAST play began Dec. 27. In addition to 25 points Jan. 15 at Providence, Baldwin had a career-high 31 points at Georgetown Dec. 27 and 28 points at Xavier Jan. 2.
 
EFFICIENCY PERSONIFIED: Senior Tyler Wideman leads the BIG EAST in field goal percentage, connecting on 67.9 percent of his attempts so far this season. Wideman has been consistently efficient as well. In his 21 games played, there have only been three times when Wideman has connected on fewer than 50 percent of his attempts.
 
BUILDING A RESUME: Butler, currently ranked No. 30 by KenPom, has five wins against the KenPom Top 100 at this point in the season. That includes a win over No. 1-ranked Villanova. The Bulldogs also own wins over Ohio State, Marquette, Utah, and St. John's (three additional wins are against teams ranked between No. 101 and 120). Six of Butler's seven losses have come against teams ranked in the KenPom Top 50 (and Providence is ranked No. 58). KenPom rankings are through the games of Sunday, Jan. 28.
 
TOUGH COMPETITION: Through the games of Sunday, Jan. 28, Butler's schedule is viewed as the 12th-toughest nationally by KenPom.com.
 
KEYS TO THE GAME: In Butler's 15 wins, the Bulldogs have gotten to the line more than their opponents (281-254), have out-rebounded foes by an average of 35.9-30.1, and have seen Paul Jorgensen and Tyler Wideman combine for an average of 24.3 points per game. In the team's seven losses, opponents have gotten to the line 158 times compared to only 87 for Butler. Opponents have also out-rebounded Butler by an average of 37.0-34.0. Jorgensen and Wideman combine for 13.3 points per game in the team's losses.