Opponent: No. 1 Villanova
Specifics: Wednesday, Jan. 4 | 6:30 p.m. | Hinkle Fieldhouse | Indianapolis, Ind.
TV: FS1 | Joe Davis & Donny Marshall
Radio: 93.5 FM & 1070 AM (also streamed through
TuneIn Radio App) | Mark Minner (play-by-play) & Nick Gardner (analyst)
Follow Along: @ButlerMBB
Tickets: The game is sold out.
Full Notes (PDF)
BIG TEST: The Bulldogs host No. 1 Villanova Wednesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The 6:30 p.m. tip will air nationally on FS1. Butler, ranked No. 18 in both national polls this week, enters with a record of 12-2, while Villanova is 14-0.
THE SERIES: This will be the eighth match-up between the two programs with a majority of the games coming since Butler joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season. Villanova has won each of the previous seven match-ups. The first meeting between the programs came as part of the 1996 Puerto Rico Tip-Off, while the last six contests have been as BIG EAST foes.
JOIN THE CLUB: Kelan Martin become only the 39th Butler player to score 1,000 career points when he reached the milestone with his first point Sunday against Providence. Andrew Chrabascz scored his 1,000th career point in the Dec. 17 win over Indiana. Butler graduated two 1,000-point scorers off last year's roster in Roosevelt Jones and Kellen Dunham.
Martin has led the Bulldogs in scoring in eight of the team's 14 games this season. He has scored 20 or more points in six of those contests. In his Butler career, the Bulldogs have a 19-5 record in games where Martin is the team's leading scorer.
LAST TIME OUT: Butler opened up a 20-point lead 13 minutes into the contest and used 62-percent shooting to overmatch Providence, 78-61, Sunday afternoon. Kelan Martin led four Bulldogs in double figures with 15 points.
AGAINST NUMBER 1: This will be Butler's seventh time facing off with a team ranked No. 1 in the country. The most recent occurrence was a season ago as the Bulldogs lost at Villanova. Butler hosted No. 1 Indiana at Hinkle Fieldhouse during the 1953-54 season, the only time that the Bulldogs hosted the top team. Butler is 1-5 all-time against top-ranked teams, including a win over Indiana in the 2012 Crossroads Classic.
Butler is 1-6 against Top 5 teams at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The win came over No. 3 Michigan in the 1965-66 season.
BOUNCING BACK: Butler is now 19-3 following a loss under coach Chris Holtmann. The Bulldogs responded from a loss at St. John's in its BIG EAST opener to defeat Providence.
MAKING SHOTS: Butler shot 62 percent for the game, including 73 percent in the opening 20 minutes, in the win over Providence. It was just shy of the season-best .621 clip against Bucknell Nov. 19. Eight of Butler's nine players who took shots made at least 50 percent of their attempts. Kelan Martin was the only Bulldog to attempt more than six shots as Butler's balanced effort proved productive.
MORE ON THE MAKES: Butler is now 6-0 this season and 24-0 under Chris Holtmann when shooting 50 percent or better from the field. When the Bulldogs post a better field goal percentage than its opponent, Butler is 10-0 this season and 45-2 in Holtmann's two-plus seasons in charge.
Butler is shooting 49.9 percent from the field this season, which ranks 14th nationally.
FROM DOWNTOWN: The Bulldogs made eight of their 14 attempts from behind the arc Sunday against Providence. That was a season-best percentage. Butler has shot at least 40 percent from three-point range in five of its last six games. The Bulldogs have made at least 40 percent of their three-point attempts eight times this season.
HOME, SWEET HINKLE: Butler is now 8-0 at Hinkle Fieldhouse this season, and carries an 11-game home winning streak into Wednesday's contest. With the win over Vermont to close the non-conference schedule, 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).
Butler coach Chris Holtmann is 34-6 at Hinkle Fieldhouse as head coach of the Bulldogs.
BENCH WORK: Kethan Savage and Avery Woodson came off the bench to combine for 21 points against Providence after teaming up for 20 points at St. John's. Savage's back-to-back 10-point outings are a season-high. Woodson's 11 were his fifth time in double figures this season for Butler.
Butler used a 29-5 advantage in bench scoring to post the win over Providence.
BOARD WORK: Butler out-rebounded Providence, 30-26, in Sunday's win. Kelan Martin had a game-high eight rebounds, which is his third consecutive game at least sharing the team rebounding lead and his fifth time this season pacing the team in caroms.
Butler is now 7-0 this season when out-rebounding its opponent. That includes the first five games of the season.
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 69 percent from the field this season, which is second in the BIG EAST.
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 101-78 overall as a head coach, including 57-24 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.
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.
AFTER 20 MINUTES: Butler has led at the half in 10 of 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.
SEASON-BEST: Andrew Chrabascz's 28 points against Vermont Dec. 21 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 and assists, and he's third on the team in scoring.
IN THE POLLS: The Bulldogs are ranked No. 18 in both national polls this week. 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 has committed 13 and 14 turnovers, respectively, in its last two games. The Bulldogs have posted 10 or fewer miscues in seven games this season. 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 +4.3 leads the BIG EAST and is 23rd nationally. Butler's assist/turnover margin of 1.40 is second in the BIG EAST and 29th in the NCAA.
HELPING HAND: Tyler Lewis has led the team in assists in nine of Butler's games this season. He has registered at least four assists in all but four contests. Lewis's 4.8 assists per game rank third in the BIG EAST and 82nd nationally.
Lewis's seven assists against Vermont Dec. 21 were just one off his season-high. For the season, he has 67 assists and only 18 turnovers. His 3.72 assist/turnover ratio leads the BIG EAST and is tenth in the NCAA.
I'LL TAKE THAT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH: Freshman Kamar Baldwin had a career-high five steals Dec. 7 at Indiana State. Baldwin's average of 1.9 steals per game is tied for third in the BIG EAST and 58th nationally.
