Opponent: Providence
Specifics: Sunday, Jan. 1 | 3 p.m. | Hinkle Fieldhouse | Indianapolis, Ind.
TV: CBS Sports Network | Rich Waltz, Doug Gottlieb & Tina Cervasio
Radio: 93.1 FM WIBC (also streamed through
TuneIn Radio App) | Mark Minner (play-by-play) & Nick Gardner (analyst)
Follow Along: @ButlerMBB
Tickets: Still available through the Butler Ticket Office
Full Notes (PDF)
HAPPY NEW YEAR: The Bulldogs tip off 2017 and the home portion of their BIG EAST schedule Sunday afternoon, hosting Providence in a New Year's Day contest at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The 3 p.m. tip will air nationally on CBS Sports Network. Butler, ranked No. 13 in both national polls this week, enters with a record of 11-2, while the Friars are 10-4. Both teams dropped their BIG EAST opener earlier this week.
THE SERIES: This will be the eighth match-up between the two programs with all games coming since Butler joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season. Providence leads the series, 6-1, and has won three straight with all three of those wins coming during the 2015-16 season as PC swept the regular season series and defeated Butler in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament.
In the three games against Providence a season ago, Kelan Martin averaged 16.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. That included two of his eight double-doubles on the season.
999…AND COUNTING: Andrew Chrabascz scored his 1,000
th career point in the Dec. 17 win over Indiana. After posting 13 points Thursday against St. John's, teammate
Kelan Martin is now just one point shy of joining Chrabascz on Butler's list. Martin looks to become only the 39
th Butler player to score 1,000 career points.
LAST TIME OUT: Butler dropped its BIG EAST opener Thursday night at St. John's, 76-73. The Red Storm overcame a 10-point Butler lead with 10:34 remaining. SJU shot 54 percent from the field and went 18-of-23 from the free throw line. The 54-percent mark was a season-high for a Butler opponent.
BOUNCING BACK: The Bulldogs have dropped their BIG EAST opener in each of their four seasons as a member of the conference. However, Butler has shown a knack for responding well to a loss under coach
Chris Holtmann. Butler is 18-3 following a loss under Holtmann.
CAREER-BEST: Junior
Tyler Wideman led Butler with 20 points Thursday night at St. John's. He went 8-of-11 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line in posting the career-high. His previous career-best was 18 against The Citadel to open the 2015-16 season, while his season-high was 15 points at Utah on Nov. 28 when he went a perfect 6-of-6 from the field. Thursday was only the third time in Wideman's career that he led the Bulldogs in scoring.
Wideman is shooting 68 percent from the field this season, which is second in the BIG EAST.
CRASHING THE BOARDS: Tyler Wideman and
Kelan Martin each posted a game-high nine rebounds at St. John's. It was a season-best mark for Martin, who posted eight double-doubles during the 2015-16 season. Wideman had his first career double-double against Central Arkansas Dec. 3. The Bulldogs and Red Storm each had 31 rebounds as a team. Twelve of Butler's caroms came on the offensive end.
After out-rebounding its first five opponents of the season, Butler has only accomplished the feat in one of its last eight games (however, two of those games have seen Butler and its opponent have an equal number of boards).
EXPERIENCED SPARK: Kethan Savage and
Avery Woodson, both in their first season at Butler but their fifth season collegiately, came off the bench to combine for 20 points at St. John's. Savage's 10 points were a season-high. Woodson's 10 were his fourth time in double figures this season for Butler.
BEHIND THE ARC: The Bulldogs entered the game at St. John's making 33 of their last 69 attempts from three-point range (.478) over the last four games. Butler then posted a season-low 24-percent mark from behind the arc against the Red Storm. St. John's, which entered the game at a 41-percent clip from three, shot only 4-of-16 as the Bulldogs held them to a season-low for makes and SJU's second-worst percentage on the season.
CENTURY MARK: Chris Holtmann picked up career win No. 100 as a head coach with the Bulldogs' victory over Vermont Dec. 21. Holtmann is now 100-78 overall as a head coach, including 56-24 at Butler.
20-20: For the first time this season, Butler had two players go for at least 20 points in the same game as
Andrew Chrabascz posted 28 points and
Kelan Martin added 21 in the win over Vermont Dec. 21. It was the first time two Bulldogs combined on the feat since March 2, 2016 at Seton Hall.
LIVIN' IN THE 80s: Butler is now 27-0 under
Chris Holtmann when scoring 80 or more points. They accomplished the feat 15 times in 2015-16 and on six occasions in 2014-15 to pair with six 80+ performances on the young 2016-17 season.
HOW YOU GET TO BE A 1,000-POINT SCORER: Kelan Martin, sitting at 999 career points, has had 20 percent of those points come at the free throw line. He went without a free throw attempt at St. John's. It was the first time this season and just the fourth time since the beginning of his sophomore season that Martin did not get to the free throw line.
Martin has led the Bulldogs in scoring in seven of the team's 13 games this season. He has scored 20 or more points in six of those contests.
PASSED THE MIDTERM: Butler finished the non-conference season with a record of 11-1, which they also did a season ago. This season matched Butler's best start since the 2008-09 team that started 19-1 on its way to a 26-6 mark.
The Bulldogs are now 3-0 versus Top 25 teams in 2016-17, including two Top 10 wins.
MAKE MORE THAN YOU MISS: The Bulldogs shot 57 percent from the field in the win over Vermont to close the non-conference season. Including five times this season, Butler is 23-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field under head coach
Chris Holtmann.
Butler is shooting 49.2 percent from the field this season, which ranks 23rd nationally.
HOME COOKING: Butler coach
Chris Holtmann is 33-6 at Hinkle Fieldhouse as head coach of the Bulldogs. With the win over Vermont, Butler has now won 35 consecutive home games against non-conference opponents. The streak dates back to a loss to Pittsburgh in the 2012 College Basketball Invitational (CBI).
AFTER 20 MINUTES: Butler has led at the half in nine of 13 games this season. When leading at the half, the Bulldogs are 9-0 this season and 49-7 during
Chris Holtmann's time on the Butler sidelines.
SEASON-BEST: Andrew Chrabascz's 28 points against Vermont were a season-high, and just two points off his career-best of 30. Chrabascz went 12-of-18 from the field. His previous high for a 2016-17 contest was 18 at Indiana State.
Chrabascz is second on the team in scoring, rebounding and assists.
ON THE CLIMB: For the second consecutive week, the Bulldogs are ranked No. 13 in both national polls. Butler cracked the Top 25 for the first time this season in the Nov. 28 polls. Butler has now been ranked in the Top 25 in nine of the last 11 seasons.
VALUE THE BALL: Butler committed 13 turnovers in its most recent loss at St. John's. It was just the sixth time this season that the Bulldogs had more than 10 miscues. Butler posted a season-low six turnovers in back-to-back wins over ranked opponents Cincinnati and Indiana near the end of the non-conference slate. On the season, the Bulldogs are averaging only 10.2 turnovers per game. That mark is sixth nationally.
Butler's turnover margin of +4.8 leads the BIG EAST and is 14th nationally. Butler's assist/turnover margin of 1.45 is second in the BIG EAST and 21st in the NCAA.
HELPING HAND: Tyler Lewis has led the team in assists in nine of Butler's 13 games this season. He has registered at least four assists in all but three contests. Lewis's 5.1 assists per game rank third in the BIG EAST and 67th nationally.
Lewis's seven assists against Vermont Dec. 21 were just one off his season-high. For the season, he has 66 assists and only 16 turnovers. His 4.13 assist/turnover ratio leads the BIG EAST and is seventh in the NCAA.
