Opponent: Marquette
Specifics: Monday, Jan. 16 | Noon | Hinkle Fieldhouse | Indianapolis, Ind.
TV: FS1 | Tim Brando & Len Elmore
Radio: 93.5 FM & 1070 AM (also streamed through
TuneIn Radio App) | Mark Minner (play-by-play) & Nick Gardner (analyst)
Follow Along: @ButlerMBB
Tickets: Available through the Butler Ticket Office
Full Notes (PDF)
QUICK TURNAROUND: The Bulldogs return to action Monday, hosting Marquette at noon in the first of five BIG EAST games on FS1 as the conference's annual marathon is played on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. No. 12/13 Butler is 4-2 in BIG EAST play as well as 15-3 overall after defeating Xavier Saturday afternoon. Marquette arrives at Hinkle Fieldhouse with a 12-5 overall record. MU has won two straight league contests to stand at 3-2. Tickets remain available for the game.
THE SERIES: In a series that dates back to 1922, this will be the 34th match-up between Butler and Marquette. The Golden Eagles hold a slim 17-16 advantage in the series. The teams split two match-ups last season with each team winning on its home court. Under Chris Holtmann, Butler is 3-1 against Marquette over the past two seasons.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: Butler is 10-0 at Hinkle Fieldhouse this season and carries a current 13-game home winning streak into Monday's game. Butler coach Chris Holtmann is 36-6 at Hinkle Fieldhouse as head coach of the Bulldogs.
LAST TIME OUT: No. 12 Butler used a big second half to knock off No. 15 Xavier, 83-78, Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs scored 58 points after halftime, highlighted by 21 from freshman Kamar Baldwin and a 29-of-32 performance from the free throw line over the last 20 minutes.
BIG DAY FROM THE KID: Freshman Kamar Baldwin scored a career-high 21 points to lead Butler over Xavier Saturday. All of his points came in the second half. He added a career-best nine rebounds.
Baldwin is averaging 15.3 points per game over his last three contests. He is the first Butler player to score 20 points in a single half since Kellen Dunham did it in the second half against Miami in the championship game of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Nov. 22, 2015.
TALE OF TWO 20s: After Butler scored a season-low 25 points in the first half Saturday against Xavier, the Bulldogs responded with a season-best 58 after intermission. The Bulldogs shot 56 percent from the field and committed only two turnovers over the last 20 minutes. Butler also made 29-of-32 free throws.
The 58 points in a half are the most for Butler since the 2015-16 season opener when the Bulldogs scored 71 and 73, respectively, in the 144-71 win over The Citadel Nov. 14, 2015.
RANK AND FILE: Butler is now 5-1 against ranked teams this season, including a 4-1 mark against teams that were ranked in the Top 15 at the time of the contest.
THE BOUNCE BACK: With the win Saturday over Xavier on the heels of Wednesday's loss at Creighton, Butler is now 20-3 following a loss under coach Chris Holtmann.
GETTING THROUGH IT 3-1: For only the third time in program history, Butler played three Top 15 teams in a four-game stretch (No. 1 Villanova, No. 8 Creighton and No. 15/14 Xavier). The Bulldogs just completed this stretch with a 3-1 record (including a win over unranked Georgetown). The three Top 15 teams in four games stretch 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.)
Built in 1928, Hinkle Fieldhouse has seen its share of great match-ups, but Saturday's game matching #12 Butler and #15 Xavier was 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.
LIVIN' IN THE 80s: Butler is now 29-0 under Chris Holtmann when scoring 80 or more points, which includes eight 80+ point performances this season. At home games, there is a promotion that fans receive a free lemonade at Penn Station the day following Butler scoring "Lemon-80".
YOU WANT US ON THAT LINE: Butler is shooting 87 percent from the free throw line over its last four games, including a 73-of-82 mark (89 percent) in its last three 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. Butler made 29 of 32 second-half attempts against Xavier.
In BIG EAST play, Butler leads the conference with an 81.5-percent average at the free throw line. The Bulldogs have five of the Top 15 free throw shooters in terms of percentage in the conference during league play.
HANDLE WITH CARE: The Bulldogs have posted 10 or fewer miscues in nine 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 10.3 turnovers per game. That mark is seventh nationally.
Butler's turnover margin of +4.1 leads the BIG EAST and is 15th nationally.
CRASHING THE BOARDS: Butler is 10-0 this season when out-rebounding its opponent, as the Bulldogs did Saturday against Xavier. Butler has pulled down more rebounds than four of its last five opponents.
Kelan Martin, Andrew Chrabascz and Tyler Wideman have each posted a double-double this season.
PLAYING FROM BEHIND: The Bulldogs have trailed at the half in each of its last four games, but have won three of those four contests. Butler led at the half in 10 of its first 14 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.
OUT OF THE GATES: This is Butler's fourth season in the BIG EAST and the Bulldogs are off to their best league start yet. Butler is 4-2 through six conference games, which is even more impressive as three of those games have come against the teams joining Butler in the Top 4 of the conference standings. Through six games, Butler previously posted records of 2-4 (2015-16), 3-3 (2014-15), and 1-5 (2013-14).
AGAINST THE GOLDEN EAGLES: In two games against Marquette last season, Kelan Martin averaged 21 points and seven rebounds. Andrew Chrabascz's career-high of 30 points came against Marquette during his sophomore season (Jan. 31, 2015).
BALANCED EFFORT: Eight different Bulldogs have led the team in scoring at least once this season. Kelan Martin has led the team in scoring in eight games. In BIG EAST play, those eight players each individually average at least 5.7 points per game while Martin's conference-only scoring average of 12.2 leads the team.
Kethan Savage is averaging 10.3 points per game in BIG EAST play. That is up from his average of 2.3 points per game during the non-conference portion of the schedule. He missed the first four games of the season due to illness.
SECOND UNIT: Butler's bench has out-scored the opponent's reserves in 15 of 18 games this season. In the team's six BIG EAST games, the Bulldogs' second unit is out-scoring the opposing team's bench by a margin of 178-71, which is a 107-point differential and an advantage of 17.8 points per game.
QUICK HITS: Butler's 48.2 percent shooting is 36th in the nation…the Bulldogs are 11-0 when shooting a better percentage than their opponents, something they have not done in their last three games…Butler has shot 45 percent or better from three-point range in six games this season….Kamar Baldwin's 1.94 steals per game average is second in the BIG EAST and 46th nationally.
