GAME 22: Butler (12-9, 3-5 BIG EAST) vs. #10/9 Marquette (18-3, 7-1 BIG EAST)
Wednesday, Jan. 30; 6:30PM
Hinkle Fieldhouse; Indianapolis, Ind.
TV: FS1 - @TimBrando and Bill Raftery
RADIO: 1430AM - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
TuneIn Radio App, XM 380, SiriusXM Internet 971
@ButlerMBB | ButlerSports.com
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The Bulldogs return to Hinkle Fieldhouse Wednesday night to host Top 10-ranked Marquette in a BIG EAST showdown. The 6:30 p.m. tip will air on FS1. The Butler duo of Mark Minner and Nick Gardner will have the radio call on 1430AM and the TuneIn Radio app.
The match-up serves as the annual Project 44 game in honor of the late Andrew Smith. To date, Project 44 has added thousands of new members to the Be The Match bone marrow registry, resulting in 21 matches, three donations, and two additional scheduled donations. Wearing No. 44, Smith was a standout member of Butler's back-to-back national championship game teams (2010, 2011). On January 12, 2016, at the age of 25, Andrew passed away following a two-year battle with cancer.
Butler enters the game with a 12-9 record and is one of five BIG EAST teams with a 3-5 conference record. Marquette is ranked No. 10 in the AP poll and No. 9 in this week's coaches poll. The Golden Eagles stand in second place in the BIG EAST at 7-1, having won seven straight games. Marquette is 18-3 overall. This is the first of two regular season meetings between the two teams. Butler will travel to Milwaukee Feb. 20.
THE SERIES: By winning the five most recent match-ups, Butler holds a 22-17 advantage in the all-time series between the two programs. Since Butler joined the BIG EAST for the 2013-14 season, the Bulldogs hold an 8-2 edge in games played as conference foes. Butler and Marquette first met in 1922 and spent one season together in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (1989-90, which was Barry Collier's first season as the head coach at Butler). Over the years, Butler owns an 11-5 mark against Marquette in games played in Indianapolis.
LAST SEASON: Butler swept the season series with Marquette in 2018-19. A career-high 37 points by
Kelan Martin fueled Butler in a 94-83 win Jan. 12, 2018 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler shot 59 percent from the field. Marquette led, 67-60, before Butler scored 34 points over the final 10:06. Butler won the second meeting between the two teams, 92-72, Jan. 31, 2018 in Milwaukee. Butler shot 60 percent for the game, including 8-of-14 from three-point range. The Bulldogs also made 18 of 22 free throw attempts. Five Butler players registered double figures.
Kamar Baldwin is averaging 15.0 points per game (on 59-percent shooting) in his four career games against Marquette.
HAPPY NEW YEAR: Both Butler and Marquette will play their ninth BIG EAST game with Wednesday's contest. All nine of those games will come during the month of January, the only two teams to play nine games this month. Marquette will get a break without a game over the upcoming weekend. Butler hosts Seton Hall Saturday before having its first refrain from competition as the Bulldogs do not have a game between Saturday (Feb. 2) and Feb. 9.
BIG IN THE BIG EAST: Kamar Baldwin continued his hot play in BIG EAST games with 23 points (on 8-of-12 shooting) in the team's most recent outing Friday night against Creighton. It marked Baldwin's fourth 20-point game in the team's eight BIG EAST contests. Baldwin is averaging 20.9 points per game in conference games, a mark that is fifth in the BIG EAST.
Baldwin is also among the conference leaders in steals (1.3 per game, ninth), assists (3.9 per game; tenth), free throw percentage (.821; 11th), field goal percentage (.508; 14th), and rebounding (5.8; 16th) during BIG EAST play.
LAST TIME OUT: Creighton shot 50 percent from the field in collecting a 75-61 win over Butler Friday night in Omaha. Baldwin's 23 points were a game-high. Ty-Shon Alexander led four Bluejays in double figures with 19 points. Butler was unable to overcome a six-point halftime deficit due to 31-percent shooting in the second half.
In its two games against Creighton, Butler has limited the Bluejays to a combined 14-of-50 mark from behind the three-point line. In Creighton's other 18 games, the Bluejays are shooting 44 percent (224-509) from long-range. Creighton is second in the nation in three-point percentage (.426).
HOME, SWEET HINKLE: Butler is 9-2 at Hinkle Fieldhouse this season. The Bulldogs are averaging 80.1 points per game and shooting 40 percent from behind the arc in those home contests.
HANDLE WITH CARE: The Bulldogs have committed only 10.9 turnovers per game, a mark that is just outside the Top 20 nationally. The Villanova game Jan. 22 marked the sixth time this season that Butler has committed single-digit turnovers. In two separate games this season, Butler has posted a season-low seven miscues.
GRAB AND GO: Butler turned 18 Creighton turnovers into 21 points Friday night in Omaha. That was largely due to eight steals by the Bulldogs, highlighted by three from
Henry Baddley, a number which matched his career-high.
BEHIND THE LINE: Butler shot an uncharacteristic 5-of-22 from three-point range Friday night in the loss to Creighton. Butler is averaging 9.0 three-pointers per game on 36.8-percent shooting this season. Butler hit 11 three-pointers against Villanova Jan. 22, the eighth time this season hitting 10 or more three-pointers. The Bulldogs have shot 40 percent or better from behind the arc eight times this season.
DEEP THREATS: Sean McDermott (54),
Paul Jorgensen (44) and
Jordan Tucker (29) have combined to go 127-of-307 (.414) from three-point range this season. Tucker's totals have come in only 12 games since he became eligible for competition as a midyear transfer. McDermott is eighth (2.6) and Jorgensen is 12
th (2.1) in three-pointers made per game. In BIG EAST games only, Tucker is seventh (2.6) in that category.
Tucker (two), McDermott (three) and Jorgensen (three) have combined for eight games this season hitting five or more three-pointers. In fact, each of the three has hit six three-pointers in a single game this season.
SECOND UNIT: Butler has had the advantage in bench scoring in seven of the team's eight BIG EAST contests. In Butler's last five games, that combined advantage has been 138-33 advantage. Tucker led the bench in scoring in three straight games before moving into the starting line-up for the first time Friday at Creighton. Previously, Tucker paced the St. John's and DePaul differentials with 24 and 19 points, respectively. The 30-3 advantage over Xavier Jan. 13 featured 14 points from Jorgensen, who went 4-of-7 from behind the arc, his fifth time this season with four or more three-pointers.
#KB3(0): Kamar Baldwin netted a season-best 30 points in the Jan. 19 win over St. John's. It marked the third 30-point game of the talented junior's career, and is just off his career-high of 32 points that came against Seton Hall in the 2018 BIG EAST Tournament.
POINT-BRUNK RANGE: On the season,
Joey Brunk's .673 field goal percentage is third in the BIG EAST. Eight of Brunk's nine career double-digit scoring performances have come this season. Brunk has posted 7-of-7 (vs. Miami Nov. 10) and 6-of-6 (vs. Northern Illinois Dec. 8) performances already in 2018-19.
Brunk registered the first double-double of his Butler career in the team's game at Seton Hall Jan. 9. Brunk posted career-highs of 20 points and 10 rebounds.
