Box Score TIP-OFF: Butler and Miami (Fla.) will tangle for the Puerto Rico Tip-Off title Sunday evening in San Juan. The Bulldogs put their 3-0 record on the line after tournament wins against Missouri State and Temple.
FOLLOW ALONG: The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2, while Mark Minner and Nick Gardner can be heard on 1070 AM and 93.5 FM. Rich Hollenberg and LaPhonso Ellis will have the ESPN2 call. Information can also be found on Twitter at @ButlerMBB and @ESPNPRTipOff as well as ButlerSports.com.
THE SERIES: This is the first meeting between Butler and Miami (Fla.)
SHIP BACK THE TROPHY: Butler is looking for its first in-season tournament championship since the 2010 Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu (2010-11 season). Butler defeated Utah, Florida State and Washington State in that tournament. Those Bulldogs advanced to the national championship game. The Bulldogs also won the 2007 Great Alaska Shootout and 2006 NIT Season Tip-Off.
LAST TIME OUT: Butler used tough defense and solid free throw shooting Friday afternoon to push by Temple and advance to the championship game of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan. The Bulldogs limited Temple to 38-percent shooting in the 74-69 win. Butler made 21 of 25 free throws.
DOUBLING DOWN: Senior Roosevelt Jones has 10+ rebounds in all three contests this season, including the eighth and ninth double-doubles of his Butler career. Jones had 18 points and 11 rebounds in the opener against The Citadel and 12 points and 11 boards against Temple. He had 10 rebounds (and six points) against Missouri State. For his career, he has 13 games with double-digit rebounds.
(WIDE)MANNING THE MIDDLE: Tyler Wideman had a career-high four blocks against Temple, helping to hold the Owls to 38 percent shooting. The four swats also came in a career-high 33 minutes. Wideman has stepped into the starting post position vacated by the graduation of Kameron Woods. His biggest area of improvement has been at the free throw line where he is 8-of-10 this season after shooting 42 percent as a freshman in 2014-15.
While in Puerto Rico, Wideman has picked up his 100th career point and 100th career rebound.
CAREFUL CONSIDERATION: Tyler Lewis, including a 10-assist performance against Missouri State in the Puerto Rico opener, has 13 assists on the season against only one turnover. He is the first Butler player with 10 assists in a game since Ronald Nored against Indiana State on Feb. 18, 2012.
LARGE GAP: Despite a five-point win against Temple, Butler is seventh in the country in scoring margin at 37.3 points per game.
HIGH OCTANE: Butler is third in the country in scoring at 103.7 points per game. Butler is also shooting at a 54.1 percent clip, which is tenth in the country.
SHARING IS CARING: On the season, Butler has 63 assists against only 24 turnovers through three games. The Bulldogs rank third nationally in assist/turnover ratio (2.63 assists per turnover) and 13th in assists per game (21.0).
Butler's 8.0 turnovers per game are seventh in the country.
FIRST TIMER: With a career-high 10 rebounds to go along with 13 points Friday against Temple, junior Andrew Chrabascz posted his first double-double as a Butler Bulldog. He had a career-high eight assists in the season opener against The Citadel.
INSTANT OFFENSE: With eight points and nine rebounds against Temple, sophomore
Kelan Martin just missed his second career double-double (his first came in the season opener against The Citadel). He had 31 points in just 37 minutes through the first two games of the season. While Martin is used to doing his work efficiently, he played a career-high 25 minutes against Temple.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Seniors Kellen Dunham and Roosevelt Jones continue to climb several lists in Butler's career rankings. Dunham is now 13th in scoring (1,462 points) and third in three-pointers (218). Jones is 31st in scoring (1,113) and eighth in assists (322).
RE-WRITE THE RECORD BOOKS: In the season-opener against The Citadel and their frantic pace, Butler set records for most points in a game (144; previously 128), made field goals (56; previously 53), most points in a half (73 and 71; respectively, which both broke the previous mark of 63), and margin of victory (73; bettering a 68-point win – 82-14 – over Indiana Law School during the 1921-22 season).
According to the ESPN Stats Department, it was the most points scored by a Division I team versus a Division I team since TCU beat UT-Pan American, 153-87, in 1997.
NOT A ONE-MAN SHOW: Butler had seven players in double figures against The Citadel, including all five starters. Those seven players all still average double-figures through three games.
Kellen Dunham leads the way at 17 points per game.
All 12 Bulldogs who saw action The Citadel scored. Butler eclipsed the 100-point mark with 13:32 remaining in the second half.
