Butler (6-2) vs. Northern Illinois (5-3)
Saturday, Dec. 8; 4:30PM
Hinkle Fieldhouse; Indianapolis, Ind.
TV: FS1 - @VinceWelch & @NickBahe
RADIO: 1430 AM, TuneIn Radio App, XM 382, SiriusXM Internet 973 - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)

Full Notes (PDF)

The Bulldogs continue a two-game homestand Saturday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse, hosting Northern Illinois. The 4:30 p.m. tip will air nationally on FS1. The Butler duo of Mark Minner and Nick Gardner will have the radio call on 1430AM and the TuneIn Radio app. 
 
Butler is 6-2 on the season; NIU enters at 5-3.
 
RENEWING THE SERIES: Butler and NIU have not met since 1997. The two teams were actually league rivals when they last met, both as members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. NIU was in the conference for the 1994-95, 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons, with six of the nine meetings in the series coming during those three seasons.
 
WHAT DID YOU DO TO BROWN?: Senior Paul Jorgensen led the Bulldogs with 19 points in the team's 70-55 Wednesday night win over Brown at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Jorgensen went 7-of-15 from the field, including a trio of three-pointers.
 
With those 19 points Wednesday, Jorgensen took over the top spot in season scoring average for the Bulldogs (17.4).
 
OVERLY PROTECTIVE: The Bulldogs committed a season-low seven turnovers in the win over Brown. It marked Butler's second game this season with single-digit turnovers (Butler had 11 such occurrences in 2017-18 in LaVall Jordan's first season at Butler as head coach). Butler is averaging only 10.5 turnovers per game this season, which is Top 20 nationally.
 
STINGY: Only one of Butler's eight opponents this season has scored more than 70 points (which came in Butler's 83-76 win over Ole Miss, Nov. 16). The Bulldogs' defense is allowing only 62.8 points per game on average, which is the stingiest mark in the BIG EAST and Top 40 nationally. Butler's opponents are making only 41.4 percent of their shots from the field and 32.7 percent of their three-point attempts on the season. Both of those numbers rank second in the BIG EAST.
 
In the Nov. 23 win over Florida to conclude the Battle 4 Atlantis, Butler limited the Gators to 22 points in the second half on 29-percent shooting. Florida made only one of its 12 three-point attempts after the break.
 
NOT A WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT: Including the win over Brown, Butler has now won 47 consecutive home games against non-conference foes. The streak dates back to a loss to Pittsburgh in the 2012 College Basketball Invitational (CBI). That current streak trails only Duke and Arizona. Opponents who have fallen victim at Hinkle Fieldhouse during the streak include Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Cincinnati, Northwestern (twice), Utah, Princeton (twice), Saint Louis, Chattanooga, Belmont, and Vermont.

QUICK HANDS: The Bulldogs forced Saint Louis into 19 turnovers Dec. 1. That included nine steals. Kamar Baldwin and Aaron Thompson each had three steals. For Baldwin, he now has 124 for his career, moving him into tenth on Butler's career list. For Thompson, that tied a career-high.
 
1,000: Junior Kamar Baldwin became the 40th Butler Bulldog to post 1,000 career points, going over the mark in the team's Nov. 23 win over Florida at the Battle 4 Atlantis. Baldwin hit 1,000 points in just 75 career games. He has already moved into 37^th on Butler's list (currently with 1,029 points).
 
FILLING THE STAT SHEET: On the season, Baldwin is in the BIG EAST Top 10 in points, assists, steals, minutes, and free throw percentage. He is 13th in rebounding. Baldwin led the team in rebounding at Saint Louis Dec. 1, pulling down nine caroms. Baldwin has posted four or more assists in seven of the team's eight games.
 
Aaron Thompson tied his career-high with eight assists in the Nov. 22 win over Middle Tennessee. Butler registered a season-high 22 assists on 31 made field goals.
 
BOARD WORK: In addition to Baldwin's nine rebounds at Saint Louis, Henry Baddley (nine) and Paul Jorgensen (eight) each set career-highs. Jorgensen has pulled down at least seven boards in three games so far this season. Baddley's previous career-high was seven rebounds, set in the 2017 game against Saint Louis.
 
FROM DEEP: Jorgensen (3.0) and Sean McDermott (2.6) are third and seventh, respectively, in the BIG EAST in three-pointers made per game.
 
CAREER NIGHT: McDermott set a career-high with 21 points on seven three-pointers in the Nov. 22 Thanksgiving Night win over Middle Tennessee. He had 18 the night before against Dayton, which was his previous career-high. His seven three-pointers tied the Battle 4 Atlantis single-game record, which was set by Wisconsin's D'Mitrik Trice earlier in the day. Trice's father, Travis, played at Butler (1993-95). Entering the Battle 4 Atlantis, McDermott had scored a total of 19 points in the team's first three games.
 
LONG RANGE: Butler hit 16 three-pointers against Middle Tennessee Nov. 22, which also set a Battle 4 Atlantis single-game record (previously held by UMass in a 2011 game against Utah). The 16 three-pointers were the most by Butler since the Bulldogs hit 15 in a Dec. 30, 2017 home win over No. 1 Villanova (101-93).
 
SCORING IN BUNCHES: Jorgensen scored 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting against Middle Tennessee, including 5-of-8 from three-point range. He matched McDermott for the team lead. It marked Jorgensen's third straight game leading the Bulldogs in scoring, after 18 points against Dayton and registering career-highs with 27 points and six three-pointers in the Nov. 16 win over Ole Miss.
 
WE'LL TAKE THAT: Butler forced Middle Tennessee into 20 turnovers Nov. 22 at the Battle 4 Atlantis, converting those into 28 points. Eight of the 10 Bulldogs who dressed for the contest registered at least one steal. Butler had 12 steals total. Butler's defense also limited the Blue Raiders to 32-percent shooting.
 
CELEBRATING THE HOLIDAYS: Butler has posted a winning record in each of its last five Thanksgiving Week tournaments. The Bulldogs won the 2016 Las Vegas Invitational, and went 2-1 in the other four events: the PK80 event in 2017 in Portland, the 2015 Puerto Rico Tip-Off, and the 2014 and 2018 Battle 4 Atlantis.
 
CLUTCH PERFORMANCE: Butler made all 18 of its second-half free throw attempts in solidifying the win over Ole Miss. For the game, Butler went 23-of-27 (85 percent). Baldwin was a perfect 12-of-12 on the night.