GAME 25: rv/rv Bulldogs (17-7, 7-4 BIG EAST) vs. #5/5 Xavier (21-3, 9-2)
Tuesday, Feb. 6  |  6:30 p.m. ET  
Indianapolis, Ind.  |  Hinkle Fieldhouse
TV: FS1  |  @JustinKutcher & @NickBahe
Radio: 107.5 FM, 1070 AM & TuneIn Radio App  |  @MarkMinner & @n_gardner 
@ButlerMBB  |  ButlerSports.com
Tickets: Still available - purchase

Full Notes (PDF)

THE SERIES: Xavier holds a 39-20 series advantage over the Bulldogs as the teams have been conference foes in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now the Horizon League) and for a season in the Atlantic-10 before joining the BIG EAST together prior to the 2013-14 season. Xavier won the first match-up this season in Cincinnati, 86-79. Butler swept the regular season series last season before Xavier won a 2017 BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinal between the two teams.
 
POINTS OF EMPHASIS:
• Butler is in the midst of a stretch that has the Bulldogs at home for five of six games (Tuesday's game with Xavier is the second of those five home games).
• Butler is 12-1 this season at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
• Kelan Martin's scoring average of 21.9 points per game in BIG EAST play leads the conference. Kamar Baldwin (18.7) is sixth.
• Tyler Wideman leads the BIG EAST in field goal percentage at .693.
• During Butler's four-game winning streak, the Bulldogs are allowing only 60.3 points per game and an average of 23.0 points in the first half.
• Kamar Baldwin averages 18.5 points per game in four previous match-ups with Xavier.
• For the second time this season, Butler will face Xavier and Villanova in back-to-back games.
• Butler is shooting 80 percent from the free throw line in BIG EAST play.
 
FOUR STRAIGHT, 'FOUR' SURE: Butler enters Tuesday's contest on a four-game winning streak. This is the team's third winning streak of at least four games this season. A win Tuesday would tie the team's season-best five-game streak (Nov. 24-Dec. 9).
 
D-LIGHTFUL: Butler's last five opponents have been held to 72 points or less. That is in stark contrast to the Bulldogs' first six BIG EAST games when all six opponents scored 83 points or more. Over the recent five-game stretch, Butler has limited opponents to 62.2 points per game and 40-percent shooting.
 
Individually, Butler has locked down on opponents' key offensive weapons: St. John's Shamorie Ponds (entered game averaging 20.0ppg in BIG EAST play, held to 2 points); Marquette's Andrew Rowsey (held scoreless after averaging 20.5ppg entering game); and DePaul's duo of Max Strus and Eli Cain (had a combined 9 points, entered averaging 29.9ppg combined in BIG EAST play).
 
WE'LL TAKE THAT: Butler forced DePaul into 23 turnovers in Saturday's win. The Bulldogs converted those 23 turnovers into 27 points. The 23 turnovers were one shy of a season-high for a Butler opponent (Ohio State committed 24 in Butler's win Nov. 26).
 
I'LL SPECIFICALLY TAKE THAT: Sophomore Kamar Baldwin had four steals Saturday against DePaul, a season-high and one off his career-high of five set twice as a freshman. He now has 100 career steals in just 58 games. Even more impressive is that Baldwin is almost responsible for more opponents' turnovers than his own. He has 100 steals against only 103 career turnovers.
 
Baldwin is fourth in the BIG EAST in steals, averaging 1.7 per game.
 
SEEING A TREND: Kelan Martin has scored 20 or more points in 14 games this season, including seven of the team's 11 BIG EAST contests. He had 26 points against DePaul Saturday afternoon.
 
Martin leads the BIG EAST in scoring at 21.9 points per game in conference play.
 
DOING A 'LOT' BIT OF EVERYTHING: In addition to his 26 points Saturday, Kelan Martin also led the Bulldogs with six rebounds and six assists. His assist total was one shy of his career-high. Martin added two blocks and two steals.
 
YOU WANT THEM ON THAT LINE; YOU NEED THEM ON THAT LINE: Butler made 16 of its 17 free throw attempts Saturday against DePaul. Kelan Martin led the effort with a 10-of-11 performance. The 94.1-percent mark was Butler's second-best of the season (trailing only an 11-of-11 evening at Maryland Nov. 15). Butler has shot 80 percent or better from the line 11 times this season, including three of the last four games. As a team, Butler is shooting 77 percent from the free throw line this season. That percentage improves to 80 percent in BIG EAST play. Butler is in the Top 20 nationally in free throw shooting.
 
At 86.1 percent, Kelan Martin is fifth in the BIG EAST in free throw shooting.
 
FIRST TIME AROUND: Xavier came away with an 86-79 win in Cincinnati in the first match-up between the teams this season. Xavier went 24-of-37 from the free throw line; Butler was only 6-of-8. The host Musketeers took their largest lead of the night at 66-52 with 9:37 to play in the game before Butler cut the margin to only six with 3:42 remaining (72-66). Kamar Baldwin had 28 points and Kelan Martin had 25. Xavier would put five players in double figures, led by senior standouts Trevon Bluiett (21) and J.P. Macura (20).
 
HINKLE-COURT ADVANTAGE: Butler is 12-1 this season at Hinkle Fieldhouse. At Hinkle, the Bulldogs are averaging 86.5 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the field. Butler has reached 80 points in 11 of the games. Butler is 5-6 away from its home court, averaging 72.1 ppg on 43-percent shooting.
 
MOVING THE BALL: Butler had 19 assists on 27 made field goals Saturday against DePaul. Assisting on 70 percent of its field goals was a season-best percentage for the Bulldogs. Six players had two or more assists in the game.
 
DOES THIS GUY EVER MISS?: Senior Tyler Wideman had a career-high 23 points in Wednesday's win at Marquette. He made eight of his nine attempts from the field (collecting an offensive rebound and put-back on his only miss of the night), and made all seven of his free throw attempts. It marked the second 20-point game of Wideman's career, bettering his previous career-high of 20 points at St. John's Dec. 29, 2016.
 
Wideman leads the BIG EAST in field goal percentage in both all games (.693) and in conference play (.702). Butler's single-season field goal percentage record (min. 100 attempts) belongs to Duane Lightfoot, who posted a .657 mark in 2002-03.
 
FINDING YOUR BALANCE: Five Bulldogs scored in double figures Wednesday, led by Wideman's 23 points. He was joined by Kelan Martin (16), Kamar Baldwin (15), Sean McDermott (13), and Aaron Thompson (11). It was Butler's first game with five players in double figures since the team's 107-46 win over Western Illinois Dec. 21 in the team's last non-conference outing.
 
GET HOT, STAY HOT: Butler matched a season-high by shooting 60 percent Wednesday at Marquette. The Bulldogs also shot 60 percent in beating No. 1 Villanova, 101-93, Dec. 30. Against Marquette, Butler opened the game by making 15 of its first 23 attempts. At that point in the game, Butler had just concluded a 19-4 run that gave the Bulldogs a 37-22 lead. Butler made eight of its 14 attempts from behind the arc (57 percent), also the first time above 50 percent from three-point range since the Villanova game.
 
ALL-AROUND GREAT GUY: Sophomore Kamar Baldwin's line at Marquette Wednesday night included 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting in addition to five rebounds and a game-high five assists. In conference games, Baldwin ranks sixth in scoring (18.7), ninth in rebounding (6.4), 13^th in assists (3.4), and 11^th in three-point percentage (.415).
 
Baldwin had four rebounds in Saturday's win over DePaul. Leading into that game, he had pulled down five or more rebounds in 13 straight games. His nine rebounds at DePaul Jan. 20 matched a season-high and were two shy of his career-high set as a freshman.
 
ALL YOUR FAVORITE 90s HITS: Butler put 92 points on the scoreboard Wednesday night at Marquette. It marked the Bulldogs' sixth time this season scoring 90 or more points. Butler has reached the figure in four of the team's 10 BIG EAST contests.
 
DOUBLE DIGITS: Redshirt sophomore Sean McDermott has come off the bench with back-to-back double-figure scoring games (10 vs. DePaul Saturday after 13 at Marquette). In that two-game stretch, he is 5-of-6 from three-point range and 6-of-6 at the free throw line. McDermott's .438 mark from three-point range is second on the team. His 28 made three-pointers (he missed four games earlier in the season) rank fourth on the roster.
 
ON THE BOARDS: Butler out-rebounded Marquette, 32-22, in Wednesday's win. The Bulldogs are now 12-3 on the season when pulling down more boards than their opponent. Tyler Wideman had nine rebounds Wednesday, one game after posting a career-best 11 in the win over St. John's Jan. 27.
 
GO LOW: In the Jan. 27 win over St. John's, Butler's defense limited the Red Storm to only 45 points, including 15 in the first half. The 45 points match the season-best total that Butler allowed to Saint Louis in a 75-45 win Dec. 2. The 45 points allowed are the fewest by a Butler opponent during the Bulldogs' tenure in the BIG EAST. The previous low was 46 points scored by DePaul in a 79-46 Butler win March 6, 2014.
 
The 45 points and 29-percent shooting are the best defensive numbers put up by any BIG EAST team in conference play so far this season.
 
BUILDING A RESUME: Butler, currently ranked No. 19 by KenPom, has six wins against the KenPom Top 100 at this point in the season. That includes a win over No. 1-ranked Villanova. The Bulldogs also own wins over Ohio State, Marquette (twice), Utah, and St. John's (seven additional wins are against teams ranked between No. 101 and 150). Six of Butler's seven losses have come against teams ranked in the KenPom Top 40 (and Providence is ranked No. 59). KenPom rankings are through the games of Sunday, Feb. 4.