Opponent: DePaul
Specifics: Saturday, Jan. 21 | 2 p.m. (Eastern) | Allstate Arena | Rosemont, Ill.
TV: FS1 | Brandon Gaudin & Dickey Simpkins
Radio: 93.5 FM & 1070 AM (also streamed through
TuneIn Radio App) | Mark Minner (play-by-play) & Nick Gardner (analyst)
Follow Along: @ButlerMBB
Notes (PDF)
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Bulldogs return to the road after sweeping a two-game homestand over the holiday weekend. Butler is 16-3 on the season and 5-2 in BIG EAST play. The Bulldogs, ranked No. 13 and No. 14 respectively in this week's national polls, have won five of their last six contests. Saturday's opponent is DePaul (8-11, 1-5 BIG EAST). The 2 p.m. (Eastern, 1 p.m. Central/Chicago) tip at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., will air nationally on FS1.
The FS1 broadcast duo includes play-by-play man Brandon Gaudin, a 2006 Butler graduate who later spent three seasons as the radio "Voice of the Bulldogs". It will be his first television assignment for a Butler game.
THE SERIES: Butler and DePaul will meet for the 13th time Saturday with the series tied at 6-6. The Bulldogs have won five straight in the series and coach Chris Holtmann is 5-0 in his career against the Blue Demons (that includes one win as the head coach at Gardner-Webb). The series dates back to the 1938-39 season. Two of the match-ups came with DePaul ranked in the top five nationally as the #1 Blue Demons won in 1979-80 and the #3 Blue Demons won during the 1980-81 season.
HALFTIME CHATS: In consecutive victories over #15 Xavier and Marquette, Butler has been out-scored in the first half, 72-50, before responding with a 121-86 scoring advantage in the second half. The 58 points against Xavier and 63 points against Marquette are Butler's two highest-scoring halves of the season, while the 25 points in each of the two first halves are the lowest-scoring of the season.
Butler's 63 points in the second half against Marquette are just off the BIG EAST record of 67, which was posted by Pittsburgh in a game against Providence, Feb. 10, 1990.
BOTH SIDES OF THE COMEBACK: The Bulldogs overcame a 16-point halftime deficit and a lead that maxed out at 18 (with 19:17 to play) against Marquette Monday. The comeback bettered a 50-35 halftime deficit (and 17-point deficit early in the second half) to Gardner-Webb on Nov. 23, 2011 as the Bulldogs came back to win 68-66. Gardner-Webb's coach at Hinkle Fieldhouse that day? Chris Holtmann.
FINDING HIS RHYTHM: Through the first six games of BIG EAST play, Kelan Martin had his customary spot as Butler's top scorer. However, his average was just 12.2 points per game and he was shooting an uncharacteristic 32 percent from the field. That changed on Monday against Marquette as Martin posted 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting. He also added a game-high seven rebounds.
Martin has led the team in scoring in nine games this season and 25 times in his Butler career. The Bulldogs are 20-5 in those games. Monday was Martin's seventh game with 20 or more points this season (and the 18th of his career).
KAMARVELOUS (TIP OF THE CAP TO TWITTER FOR THAT ONE): Freshman Kamar Baldwin had 18 points against Marquette, which followed his 21-point and nine-rebound performance against Xavier on Saturday afternoon. Both those marks are career-highs. All 21 points against Xavier came in the second half. Over his last four games, Baldwin is averaging 16.0 points per game. He has climbed to Butler's third-leading scorer this season, standing at 9.6 points per game.
Kamar Baldwin's 1.95 steals per game average is second in the BIG EAST and 46th nationally.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: Butler is 11-0 at Hinkle Fieldhouse this season and carries a current 14-game home winning streak. Butler coach Chris Holtmann is 37-6 at Hinkle Fieldhouse as head coach of the Bulldogs.
SECOND HALF AGAINST MARQUETTE: The Bulldogs shot 70 percent from the field in the second half against the Golden Eagles, including a 4-of-5 mark from behind the arc. Butler did not commit a turnover and made 21 of 26 free throw attempts.
The 63 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.
SECOND HALF AGAINST XAVIER: After Butler scored a season-low 25 points in the first half Saturday against Xavier, the Bulldogs responded with 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.
LIVIN' IN THE 80s: Butler is now 30-0 under Chris Holtmann when scoring 80 or more points, including a 9-0 mark 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". The Bulldogs have eclipsed 80 points in five of their last nine games.
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.
Butler is 12-1 against the RPI Top 100. The 12 wins are tied with Villanova for the most in the country (entering Wednesday night's games).
PLAYING FROM BEHIND: The Bulldogs have trailed at the half in each of its last five games, but have won four of those 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.
HANDLE WITH CARE: Butler had a season-low four turnovers – including none in the second half – against Marquette Monday. The Bulldogs have posted 10 or fewer miscues in 10 games this season, including only eight against Villanova and six 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 10.0 turnovers per game. That mark is sixth nationally.
Butler's turnover margin of +4.1 leads the BIG EAST and is 17th nationally.
COMING AT YOU FROM ALL ANGLES: For the third time this season, Butler put five players in double figures in Monday's win over Marquette. Eight different Bulldogs have led the team in scoring at least once this season. In BIG EAST play, those eight players each individually average at least six points per game while Martin's conference-only scoring average of 13.6 leads the team.
KEY-THAN TO VICTORY: Kethan Savage is averaging 11.3 points per game in BIG EAST play, including a season-high 17 points Monday against Marquette. That is up from his average of 2.3 points per game during the non-conference portion of the schedule. He has scored in double figures in six of the team's seven BIG EAST games.
THE BOUNCE BACK: With the win Saturday over Xavier on the heels of the Jan. 11 loss at Creighton, Butler is now 20-3 following a loss under coach Chris Holtmann.
CRASHING THE BOARDS: Butler is 11-0 this season when out-rebounding its opponent, as the Bulldogs did in both games over the holiday weekend. Butler has pulled down more rebounds than five of its last six opponents.
Kelan Martin, Andrew Chrabascz and Tyler Wideman have each posted a double-double this season.
EXORCISING THE DEMONS: Andrew Chrabascz has averaging 12.0 points per game in five career games against DePaul. He has scored in double figures in four of those contests, including 16 points on two occasions.
STRONG 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 5-2 through seven conference games. Through seven games, Butler previously posted records of 3-4 (2015-16), 4-3 (2014-15), and 1-6 (2013-14).
Butler's 16-3 start matches the 2012-13 team through 19 games. That was Brad Stevens' final season on the Butler sidelines. The 2012-13 team got to 17-3 before suffering their fourth loss of the season.
SHOOTERS SHOOT: The Bulldogs shot 53 percent from the field against Marquette. It as the team's seventh time shooting 50 percent or better from the field. Butler is 7-0 in those games this season and 25-0 under coach Holtmann when making at least 50 percent of its shots. When Butler shoots a better percentage from the field than its opponents, the Bulldogs are 12-0 this season.
Butler 48.4-percent shooting is 29th in the NCAA this season.
SECOND UNIT: Butler's bench has out-scored the opponent's reserves in 16 of 19 games this season. In the team's seven BIG EAST games, the Bulldogs' second unit is out-scoring the opposing team's bench by a margin of 201-89, which is a 112-point differential and an advantage of 16 points per game.
TAKE THEM; THEY'RE FREE: Butler is shooting 84 percent from the free throw line over its last five games. 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 and 21-of-26 in the second half against Marquette.
In BIG EAST play, Butler leads the conference with an .806 mark at the free throw line. The Bulldogs have four of the Top 15 free throw shooters in terms of percentage in the conference during league play.
