Butler (#10 Seed, 21-13) vs. Purdue (#2 Seed, 29-6)
NCAA Tournament – Round of 32 
GAME 35:  Sunday, March 18  |  12:10 p.m. ET  
Detroit, Mich.  |  Little Caesars Arena
TV:  CBS  |  Ian Eagle, Jim Spanarkel & Allie LaForce
Radio:  107.5 FM & 1070 AM  |  @MarkMinner & @n_gardner 
@ButlerMBB  |  ButlerSports.com

Notes (PDF)
 
THE SERIES: Purdue won a Dec. 16 match-up between the two teams by a score of 82-67 as part of the Crossroads Classic. That Boilermakers win stopped a five-game winning streak for Butler in the series. The last four meetings have been part of the Crossroads Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
 
Overall, Purdue leads the series, 38-19. The two teams have never met in the NCAA Tournament prior to Sunday's match-up.
 
• Butler's +20 rebounding margin Friday against Arkansas was the team's best of the season (45-25).
• Butler is 19-1 this season when shooting a better percentage than its opponent.
• Kelan Martin now has 2,018 career points; he is one point shy of second place on Butler's career scoring list.
• Butler is now 11-1 in its last 12 NCAA Tournament first-round games.
• Butler is one of just eight programs to win at least one game in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments.
• The Bulldogs have made the NCAA Tournament field in 10 of the last 12 seasons. Seniors Tyler Wideman and Martin are the third Butler senior class to play in four straight NCAA Tournaments; the only one to win at least one game in all four tournaments.
• Wideman and Martin have 91 career wins, tying them with LaVall Jordan's total from his playing career.
• Butler is 14-1 this season when allowing its opponent less than 70 points.
• Martin earned All-BIG EAST First Team honors, one of three unanimous selections by the league's head coaches. Martin led the BIG EAST in scoring during conference play at 23.6 points per game.
• Kamar Baldwin's 32 points against Seton Hall in the BIG EAST quarterfinals were a career-best. It marked the second 30-point game of his career.
 
MOTORING ON: The Bulldogs advanced to the Round of 32 with a 79-62 win over seventh-seeded Arkansas Friday afternoon in Detroit. Butler, the No. 10 seed in the East Region, will face second-seeded Purdue Sunday in the Motor City.
 
'CALMING' THE HOGS: Butler's defense limited Arkansas to 36-percent shooting, including only 4-of-18 from three-point range. The field goal percentage (.357) was the fifth-lowest mark for a Butler opponent this season. The All-SEC backcourt of Jaylen Barford and Daryl Macon combined for 27 points (nearly eight points below their joint average), but the duo shot only 7-of-21. No other Razorback had more than seven points.
 
Butler is 14-1 this season when holding its opponent to less than 70 points.
 
THE GAME IS ON THE GLASS: That's a saying that Coach LaVall Jordan mentions often to his team and it proved true Friday afternoon. Butler out-rebounded Arkansas, 45-25. The +20 rebounding margin is the best advantage on the boards for the Bulldogs in a game this season. Seniors Tyler Wideman and Kelan Martin, along with guard Kamar Baldwin, each had nine rebounds to lead Butler, which also got seven caroms from Sean McDermott. Butler limited Arkansas to only five offensive rebounds.
 
The Bulldogs are 15-3 this season when out-rebounding their opponent.
 
'KEY' TO VICTORY: Senior Kelan Martin went over 2,000 career points in Friday's win. The All-BIG EAST forward had 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting. That included five three-pointers, the sixth time this season that Martin has Yahtzee'd (or better) from behind the arc. All six of those games with five or more three-pointers have come in the team's most recent 14 contests.
 
Martin has 2,018 career points, one shy of Darrin Fitzgerald (1983-87) for second on Butler's career scoring list. Chad Tucker's 2,321 points are tops in Butler's record book.
 
BALD-WINNING: Sophomore Kamar Baldwin scored 24 points Friday against Arkansas. It was the seventh 20-point game of his career with six coming this season. Fifteen of his points came in the second half. His nine rebounds tied a season-high. Baldwin scored a career-high 32 points in the BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinal win over Seton Hall March 8.
 
MORE ON MARTIN: Kelan Martin registered the 100^th double-figure scoring game of his Butler career Friday. It was also the 20^th 20-point scoring game of the season for Martin, who has led the team in scoring in 23 of the team's 34 games this season. In addition to posting his 2,000^th career point, Martin also went over 700 career rebounds in the win over Arkansas. He is eight rebounds shy of tying the late Joel Cornette (1999-2003) for tenth on Butler's career rebounds list. Cornette had 712 boards in his career. Martin's five three-pointers moved him into fourth on Butler's career list (now with 221).
 
FOUR IN A ROW: Seniors Kelan Martin and Tyler Wideman are the third class in program history to play in four NCAA Tournaments, but the first to win at least one game in each of those years. Martin and Wideman have been part of 91 wins at Butler, which ties the win total for Butler head coach LaVall Jordan from his playing days (Jordan graduated in 2001).
 
Butler is now 11-1 in its last 12 NCAA Tournament first-round games. That dates back to 2001, when the Bulldogs, also a No. 10 seed and with senior LaVall Jordan leading the team, beat Wake Forest 79-63. The halftime score of that contest was 43-10.
 
PUNCH-COUNTERPUNCH: Butler scored 21 of the first 23 points Friday against Arkansas. The Razorbacks responded with separate 10-0 and 16-0 runs in the first half, ultimately climbing all the way back to take a 29-27 lead with 3:48 to play in the opening 20 minutes. That would be Arkansas's only lead of the game, one they held for 25 seconds.
 
GROWING UP FAST: Freshman Aaron Thompson had seven assists and three steals against Arkansas. The assist total was one off his career-high. His three steals tied a career-high. The 6-2 guard has registered three steals in three of the team's last five games.
 
THREE FOR THE PRICE OF TWO: The Bulldogs made 11 three-pointers against Arkansas, the 11^th time this season that Butler has made 10 or more from behind the arc. Butler is 8-3 in those games.
 
FIRST TIME AROUND: Purdue defeated Butler, 82-67, Dec. 17 as part of the Crossroads Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis. Purdue's defense limited Butler to 21-percent shooting in the first half as the Boilermakers built a 35-19 lead after 20 minutes. The lead grew to 26 with 13:37 to play (55-29). But the Bulldogs would not go quietly.

Over the next 10 minutes, Butler would out-score Purdue, 31-16, to trim the lead to nine (69-60) with 3:03 to play. Purdue would respond with an 11-2 run and secure the win by hitting nine of 10 free throws in the final three minutes of the game.
 
The Boilermakers shot 53 percent from the field and made 19 of 24 free throws.