Opponent: Princeton
Specifics: Sunday, November 12 | 6 p.m. ET | Hinkle Fieldhouse | Indianapolis, Ind.
TV: CBS Sports Network | Jason Horowitz & Pete Gillen
Radio: 1430 AM & the
TuneIn Radio app | Mark Minner (play-by-play) & Nick Gardner (analyst)
Follow Along: @ButlerMBB
Tickets: Still Available -
purchase
Full Notes (PDF - additional information included)
1-0: LaVall Jordan started his Butler head coaching career in style Friday night as his Bulldogs posted an 82-64 win over Kennesaw State in front of a sold-out Hinkle Fieldhouse crowd. Jordan, who helped Butler to conference championships and NCAA Tournament appearances as both a player and an assistant coach, returned to his alma mater as the 24th head coach in men's basketball program history on June 12. The head coach who recruited him to Butler as a student-athlete (Barry Collier) is the Butler's Director of Athletics who hired him to this position over the summer.
Butler is 3-0 against Princeton with wins at Hinkle Fieldhouse in 1955, 1962, and most recently Nov. 16, 2013. Kellen Dunham had 26 points in that 70-67 win.
QUANTITY AND QUALITY: Butler's two-day turnaround for Princeton is almost the early-season norm for the Bulldogs, who open with four games in nine days. Butler then flies to Portland, Ore., for the exclusive PK80 event honoring Nike's Phil Knight. That tournament features three games in four days. November alone includes match-ups with NCAA Tournament teams Princeton and Maryland, and a highly-regarded Texas team to open PK80, in addition to the remainder of the PK80 field.
'POST'ING BIG NUMBERS: Butler's three post players – Tyler Wideman, Nate Fowler and Joey Brunk – combined to go 13-of-16 from the floor Friday night against Kennesaw State. The trio tallied 28 points as Butler had a 50-16 advantage in points in the paint. Wideman shot .615 last season, which is in the top 10 of Butler's single-season marks. Fowler shot .667 on 99 attempts a season ago (one attempt shy of being the top mark on that single-season list).
TOP DAWG: Senior Kelan Martin had team-highs of 20 points and nine rebounds Friday against Kennesaw State. It marked his 22nd career game scoring 20 or more points and the 32nd time that he led the Bulldogs in scoring and rebounding, respectively.
GRAB AND GO: Butler forced 17 turnovers by Kennesaw State Friday night and converted those into 29 points. Junior Paul Jorgensen, playing in his first game for Butler after transferring from George Washington, tied his career-high with three steals. His 14 points were just two shy of his career-high during his time at GW.
QUICK HITS:
• Aaron Thompson had a game-high five assists in his Butler debut. He added seven points and two steals in 24 minutes of play.
• Princeton is coming off a 14-0 Ivy League regular season. The Tigers also won the Ivy League Tournament and advanced to its 25th NCAA Tournament.
• Both Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson (Vincennes) and junior Devin Cannady (Mishawaka) are Indiana natives.
• Butler has won 36 consecutive home games against non-conference opponents. The streak dates back to a loss to Pittsburgh in the 2012 College Basketball Invitational (CBI).
• Butler is receiving votes in both national polls (AP and Coaches polls), just outside the Top 25
'TAPAS' PERFORMANCES: The Bulldogs utilized a four-game foreign tour to Spain to prepare for the 2017-18 campaign. The team went 4-0, playing professional teams in Madrid, Albacete, Valencia, and Barcelona, from August 2-12. The team flew to Spain on coach LaVall Jordan's 50th day as Butler's head coach. The Bulldogs did extensive sight-seeing throughout the country, literally only touching a basketball during the four games.
BEST GUESS: BIG EAST coaches picked Butler to finish eighth in the league's preseason poll, which was released at BIG EAST Media Day Oct. 18. The Bulldogs finished second in the league standings a season ago after being picked sixth in the preseason poll.
HONORS PILING UP: Senior Kelan Martin earned one of the spots on the preseason All-BIG EAST first team after averaging 16.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game a season ago. Martin has also been named to preseason watch lists for three prominent awards: has been Naismith Trophy (national player of the year presented by the Atlanta Tipoff Club), the Lute Olson Award (national player of the year who has played college basketball for two or more seasons, presented by CollegeInsider.com), and the 2018 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award.
He has been voted an All-BIG EAST second team performer by the conference's head coaches following each of the past two seasons.
