Opponent: #15/14 Xavier
Specifics: Saturday, Jan. 14 | 2 p.m. | Hinkle Fieldhouse | Indianapolis, Ind.
TV: FS1 | Tim Brando & Nick Bahe
Radio: 93.5 FM & 1070 AM (also streamed through
TuneIn Radio App) | Mark Minner (play-by-play) & Nick Gardner (analyst)
Follow Along: @ButlerMBB
Tickets: Sold Out
Full Notes (PDF)
HOME, SWEET HINKLE: The Bulldogs return to Hinkle Fieldhouse for two games in a 48-hour span, hosting Xavier Saturday before Marquette arrives in Indianapolis Monday. Butler and the Musketeers currently sit in the top half of the BIG EAST standings. The #12/13 Bulldogs are 3-2 in league play (14-3 overall), while the #15/14 Musketeers are 3-1 in the BIG EAST and 13-3 overall. The 2 p.m. tip will air nationally on FS1. Saturday's game is sold out.
TOP 15 SHOWDOWN: Built in 1928, Hinkle Fieldhouse has seen its share of great match-ups, but Saturday's game matching #12 Butler and #15 Xavier will be only the third game in Hinkle history with Butler and its opponent both ranked in the Top 15. The other two times: January 19, 2013 when Roosevelt Jones hit a floater at the buzzer as #13 Butler defeated #8 Gonzaga, 64-63, and a New Year's Eve contest last season when #9 Butler lost to #12 Providence.
THE SERIES: This will be the 56th match-up between Butler and Xavier in a series that includes time together in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (later known as the Horizon League), one year in the Atlantic 10, and joining the BIG EAST together prior to the 2013-14 season. Xavier owns a 37-18 advantage with the teams first meeting on Jan. 16, 1937.
LAST TIME OUT: No. 8 Creighton defeated No. 12 Butler, 75-64, Wednesday night in Omaha. The host Bluejays capitalized on a 47-27 halftime lead and shot 55 percent for the game, which was a season-high for a Butler opponent. Butler's 64 points were a season-low as the Bulldogs shot only 41 percent in the contest.
Butler is 19-3 following a loss under coach Chris Holtmann. Most recently, the Bulldogs responded from a loss at St. John's in its BIG EAST opener to defeat Providence.
WE LIKE OUR HOME COURT: Butler is 9-0 at Hinkle Fieldhouse this season, and carries a current 12-game home winning streak into Saturday's game. Butler coach Chris Holtmann is 35-6 at Hinkle Fieldhouse as head coach of the Bulldogs.
For only the third time in program history, Butler is in the midst of playing three Top 15 teams in a four-game stretch as No. 15/14 Xavier follows No. 8 Creighton and (previously ranked) No. 1 Villanova (with a game at Georgetown sandwiched in between Villanova and Creighton). This also occurred during the 2010 NCAA Tournament and in the first four games of the 2015-16 BIG EAST schedule. (Wisconsin was ranked No. 16 and VCU was unranked entering the 2011 NCAA Tournament.)
BALANCED EFFORT: Eight different Bulldogs have led the team in scoring at least once through Butler's first 17 games of the season. Kelan Martin has led the team in scoring in eight games. In BIG EAST play, those eight players each individually average at least 5.8 points per game while Martin's conference-only scoring average of 12.0 leads the team.
Kethan Savage is averaging 10.4 points per game in BIG EAST play. Those 52 points through five games are in contrast to a total of 18 points in his first eight outings of the season as he got back up to speed after missing the beginning of the regular season due to illness.
STRONG RESUME: Butler's loss at No. 8 Creighton Wednesday night was the team's first setback against a Top 25 opponent this season. The Bulldogs knocked off their first four ranked opponents, including three with Top 10 rankings at the time of the game (Arizona, Indiana and Villanova).
ATTACKING THE BOARDS: Butler's loss at Creighton was the first time in the last four outings that Butler did not win the rebounding battle as Creighton had a 34-30 advantage. After out-rebounding its first five opponents, the Bulldogs had only pulled down more boards than one of its last eight opponents prior to that three-game stretch.
Butler is 9-0 this season when out-rebounding its opponent.
HANDLE WITH CARE: The Bulldogs have posted 10 or fewer miscues in eight games this season, including only eight against Villanova. 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 10.4 turnovers per game. That mark is eighth nationally.
Butler's turnover margin of +3.9 leads the BIG EAST and is 18th nationally.
SECOND UNIT: Butler's bench has out-scored the opponent's reserves in 14 of 17 games this season. In the team's five BIG EAST games, the Bulldogs' second unit is out-scoring the opposing team's bench by a margin of 147-59, which is an 88-point differential and an average of 17.6 points per game.
SHOTS FIRED: Butler overcame its second-worst shooting performance of the season (.391) to win at Georgetown Jan. 7. On the season, Butler's 48.3 percent shooting is third in the BIG EAST and 32nd in the nation. The Bulldogs are 11-0 when shooting a better percentage than their opponents, something they have not done in either of their last two games.
AFTER 20 MINUTES: Butler has led at the half in 10 of 17 games this season. When leading at the half, the Bulldogs are 10-0 this season and 50-7 during Chris Holtmann's time on the Butler sidelines.
WOODEN WATCH: After not being selected to the preseason Watch List featuring 50 players, Kelan Martin has been named to the John Wooden Award's Midseason Top 25 list. The award recognizes the most outstanding player in college basketball. Martin leads the Bulldogs in both scoring (16.8 ppg) and rebounding (5.5 rpg). The Creighton game was the first this season when he didn't score in double figures.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: The Bulldogs are ranked No. 12 in this week's AP poll and come in at No. 13 in the coaches poll. That is the highest ranking in the AP poll and ties for the best placement in this season's coaches poll. 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.
BEHIND THE ARC: The Bulldogs are shooting nearly 10 percentage points better from behind the three-point line than their opponents. The Bulldogs are shooting .387 from distance, which is third in the BIG EAST. Butler's opponents have been limited to a .299 mark as Butler's defense from behind the arc is ranked second in the BIG EAST and 21st in the nation.
Butler has shot 45 percent or better from three-point range in six of its 17 games this season.
LIVIN' IN THE 80s: Butler is now 28-0 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 seven 80+ performances on the young 2016-17 season.
KEEPING YOUR BALANCE: In wins over No. 1 Villanova and on the road at Georgetown last week, the Bulldogs averaged 76.5 points per game but did not have a single player post more than 16 points in either game. Five Bulldogs registered double figures at Georgetown, which was the second time this season that has occurred (vs. Norfolk State, Nov. 21). Kamar Baldwin, Kelan Martin, Kethan Savage, and Andrew Chrabascz each averaged between 12.0 and 13.0 points, respectively, in the team's two wins last week.
CAREER DAY: Freshman Kamar Baldwin posted a career-high 16 points in the Jan. 7 win at Georgetown. It was his first time leading Butler in scoring. He made a career-best three three-pointers and added five rebounds and four steals. His steals total was just shy of the five he swiped at Indiana State earlier this season.
Baldwin's 1.9 steals per game average is second in the BIG EAST and 47th nationally.
CLUTCH: Sophomore big man Nate Fowler made a series of huge plays in the waning minutes of regulation at Georgetown. With Butler trailing by three with a minute to play, Fowler nailed a tying three-pointer from the top of the key. After two Georgetown free throws re-took the lead, Fowler grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed shot and was fouled with eight seconds to play. He calmly sank two free throws to push the game to overtime.
Fowler posted 11 points at Georgetown, his second career game in double figures. He is shooting 71 percent from the field on the season.
CHARITABLE EFFORTS: Butler went 40-of-44 (91 percent) combined from the free throw line in its last two wins. That includes a 15-of-15 performance against Villanova, which was Butler's third-most makes without a miss in program history. The Bulldogs made all 10 attempts in the second half at Georgetown and then went 13-of-16 in overtime to seal the win.
