GAME 15:  --/-- Bulldogs (11-3, 1-0 BIG EAST) vs. #1/1 Villanova (13-0, 1-0)
Saturday, Dec. 30  |  4 p.m. ET  
Indianapolis, Ind.  |  Hinkle Fieldhouse
TV: CBS  |  Tom McCarthy & Bill Raftery
Radio: 1070 AM, 107.5 FM & TuneIn Radio App  |  @MarkMinner & @n_gardner 
@ButlerMBB  |  ButlerSports.com
Tickets: Still available - purchase

Full Notes (PDF)
 
Saturday is our #Project44 game in honor of the late Andrew Smith. Chase Stigall, who played alongside Andrew on Butler's Final Four teams, registered for the Be The Match bone marrow registry in Andrew's honor. Chase was matched with a young boy, who is doing very well more than a year after that bone marrow donation. Chase and the young boy's family will be at the game Saturday. Andrew's widow, Samantha, will speak during a media timeout. There is a registry drive on-site at Hinkle Fieldhouse Saturday.
 
This will be the tenth 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 owns a 7-2 lead in the series, but the Bulldogs swept the 2016-17 season series. The first meeting between the programs came as part of the 1996 Puerto Rico Tip-Off, while the last eight contests have been as BIG EAST foes.
 
• Butler has three wins in program history against teams ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in the AP Poll. Two of the three wins came in 2016-17 over Villanova, joining a 2012 Crossroads Classic victory over Indiana.
• Butler handed the Wildcats two of their four losses a season ago.
• Butler led for only 58 seconds (of 50 minutes played) in Wednesday's 2OT win at Georgetown.
• Kelan Martin has scored at least 20 points in six of the team's last eight games.
• Butler's 20-point comeback at Georgetown Wednesday was the fourth comeback win of 2017 that erased a deficit of 15 or more points.
• Butler is 8-0 at Hinkle Fieldhouse, averaging 86.5 points per game and 53.8-percent shooting.
• Eight of the 11 Bulldogs who played against Western Illinois Dec. 21 set a career-high in either points, rebounds, or assists. Two others tied a career-high.
• The 61-point win over Western Illinois was Butler's largest since beating The Citadel, 144-71, in the 2015-16 season opener.
 
THE SIZE OF THE FIGHT IN THE DOG: Down 20 late in the first half and 18 at halftime, Butler rallied for a 91-89 double-overtime win Wednesday night at Georgetown in the BIG EAST-opener for both schools. Butler also trailed by 15 against Ohio State with less than four minutes to play in regulation Nov. 26 before winning that match-up in overtime.
 
This was Butler's fourth comeback of 15 or more points of 2017, joining efforts to erase 18 points (vs. Marquette, Jan. 16) and 20 points (at DePaul, Jan. 21) last season.
 
CAREER NIGHT: Sophomore Kamar Baldwin posted a career-high 31 points in the double-overtime win over Georgetown. It bested his previous career-best of 21 points set last season against Xavier. Baldwin made 12 of his 21 attempts from the field and hit six of eight free throw attempts. Twenty-three of his points came after halftime.
 
Baldwin played 49 of a possible 50 minutes Wednesday night.
 
SENIOR MOMENT: Senior Kelan Martin scored the game-winner in double overtime Wednesday night, hitting a contested floater in the lane to give Butler a 91-89 lead with 2.6 seconds remaining. Martin also scored the game-winner in the closing seconds of overtime of the Nov. 26 win over Ohio State. Martin had 27 points against Georgetown.
 
Martin has four double-doubles, and has led the Bulldogs in scoring eight times this season. His 29 points against Utah Dec. 5 were a season-high and the third-best scoring output of his Butler career. Martin has 29 career 20-point outings (eight this season) and has led the team in scoring 39 times in his Butler career.
 
TIP, TIP, HOORAY: Sean McDermott had 12 rebounds Wednesday night at Georgetown, doubling his previous career-high of six boards. None was more important than his tip-in off a missed Kamar Baldwin three-point attempt at the end of regulation. Those two points tied the game at 75-75 and sent the contest into overtime.
 
McDermott hit two free throws with 25 seconds remaining in the first overtime session to tie the game. After Butler forced a turnover on the ensuing Georgetown possession, the game went to double overtime.
 
EXTRA SESSIONS: This is the third consecutive game played between Butler and Georgetown in the nation's capital to go to overtime. Butler has won all three.
 
Butler, in its fifth season as a member of the reconfigured BIG EAST Conference, is 1-0 in league play for the first time.
 
TALE OF TWO HALVES: Georgetown shot 52 percent in the opening minutes to take a 42-24 halftime advantage. The lead was as much as 20 as Butler shot only 32 percent and was out-rebounded, 23-14, in the opening 20 minutes. The Bulldogs limited Georgetown to 33-percent shooting (12-of-36) over the final 30 minutes of play. During that same time, Butler shot 60 percent (25-of-42).
 
EXTREME RESULTS: Butler overcame a 3-of-21 performance from three-point range to post the win Wednesday night at Georgetown. The three makes were a season-low and came one game after Butler made a season-best 18 three-pointers in the non-conference finale Dec. 21 against Western Illinois. Butler's 18 three-pointers against WIU nearly doubled the previous season-high of 10 from the win over Furman Nov. 18.
 
NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Butler ran its record to 8-0 this season at Hinkle Fieldhouse, topping Western Illinois, 107-46, Dec. 21. In the eight home wins, the Bulldogs are averaging 86.5 points per game while shooting 53.8 percent from the field. Butler has reached 80 points in seven of the games. Butler is 3-3 away from its home court, averaging 68.2 ppg on 40-percent shooting.
 
END ON A HIGH NOTE: Butler ended the non-conference schedule with a season-high 107 points Dec. 21 against Western Illinois. The Bulldogs went 18-of-31 from three-point range. Butler's 18 three-pointers tied the second-best mark in program history (at Detroit, Feb. 25, 2006), just shy of the 20 hit at Cleveland State, Feb. 8, 2007.
 
THAT'S OFFENSIVE: Butler is now 8-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points, and 10-0 when scoring north of 70. The Bulldogs are 9-0 when shooting a better field goal percentage than their opponent and 8-0 when shooting better than 50 percent from the field. 
 
Tyler Wideman and Paul Jorgensen combine to average 25.3 points per game on 60-percent shooting in Butler's 11 wins. The duo are scoring a combined 10.0 points per game on 35-percent shooting in the team's three losses.
 
SPEAKING OF WINNING: Butler's shooting statistics vary greatly between wins and losses, but the two most significant categories that look to impact winning for the Bulldogs are getting to the free throw line and rebounding. In Butler's 11 wins, the team averages 18.6 free throw attempts and has a +6.1 rebounding margin. In the team's three losses, Butler attempts only 8.7 free throws and has a -5.7 rebounding margin.
 
HANDLE WITH CARE: The Bulldogs played 50 minutes of basketball Wednesday night at Georgetown and committed only 12 turnovers. Taking care of the ball has been a common theme this season as the team averages only 12.4 miscues per game. Butler has a +4.2 turnover margin on the season, which is second in the BIG EAST and 27th nationally.
 
THEFT IN PROGRESS: The Bulldogs average 7.8 steals per game. The 12 steals against Western Illinois Dec. 21 were a season-high. Kamar Baldwin is fourth in the BIG EAST, averaging 2.0 steals per game. Kelan Martin, Paul Jorgensen and Aaron Thompson each also average better than one steal per game.
 
BUYING SHARES: Butler had 23 assists on 37 made field goals against Western Illinois Dec. 21. The 23 assists were a season-high, bettering the 21 assists in the win over Morehead State two nights prior. That ball movement led to five Bulldogs scoring in double figures, the second game in a row (and third this season) that has happened this season.
 
TOP TEN: Kelan Martin has 1,564 career points, and has moved into the No. 10 spot on Butler's career list. In the Dec. 21 win over Western Illinois, Martin had 18 first-half points. In that first half, Martin moved from 14th to 11th on Butler's career scoring list, passing Shelvin Mack, Wayne Burris and Roosevelt Jones. Martin had 27 points Wednesday at Georgetown, moving into tenth place.
 
Martin handed out a career-best seven assists Dec. 21 against Western Illinois. The seven helpers were a season-best for a Butler player.
 
PAINT JOB: Butler has won the points-in-the-paint battle in all 11 of its wins this season. The Bulldogs had a season-best 62 points in the paint against Youngstown State Dec. 9. The +36 discrepancy in paint points was also a season-best for the Bulldogs. On the season, Butler is averaging a +13.4 edge in points in the paint.
 
'PAULING' OUT: Paul Jorgensen set a new career-high with 18 points Dec. 21 against Western Illinois. That came two nights after he tied his previous career-high with 16 points, all of which came in the second half. Jorgensen is third on the team in scoring at 11.5 points per game. He has reached double figures in 10 games so far this season after hitting the mark only eight times in 73 career games at George Washington before transferring to Butler.
 
THAT'S EFFICIENT: Tyler Wideman went 7-of-9 from the field against Georgetown, posting 15 points to go along with eight rebounds. On the season, Wideman averages 10.4 points per game on 60-percent shooting.
 
Wideman is second in the BIG EAST in field goal percentage. 
 
WE'RE GOING STREAKING: Butler has won 43 consecutive home games against non-conference opponents. The streak dates back to a loss to Pittsburgh in the 2012 College Basketball Invitational (CBI). That current streak trails only Duke (139) and Arizona (47).