GAME 8:  #24/24 Butler (7-0) at Ole Miss (5-2)
 
The Bulldogs travel to Oxford, Miss., for the team's first true road game of the 2019-20 season when Butler and Ole Miss meet Tuesday night. Butler brings a 7-0 record into the match-up, which is the tail end of a home-and-home series that began last season at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler is ranked #24 in both the AP and coaches poll this week. 

Notes (PDF)
 
Details: 
Tuesday, Dec. 3;  6PM CT
The Pavilion; Oxford, Miss.
TV:  SEC Network - @RichardCrossSTM & Barry Booker
RADIO:  93.5/107.5/1070 - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
TuneIn Radio App, XM 380, SiriusXM Internet 970
 
Series: Butler Leads, 1-0
Streak: Butler, W1
Only Meeting: Butler, 83-76, 11/16/18 (Hinkle)
Paul Jorgensen (27) and Terence Davis (30) led their respective teams in scoring. Kamar Baldwin had 23 points, including a 12-for-12 performance at the free throw line.
 
• Ole Miss is the second of three SEC teams that Butler will play during a current four-game stretch.
• Kamar Baldwin was named MVP of the 2019 Hall of Fame Classic.
• With his 66.7 field goal percentage, Bryce Nze leads the BIG EAST and is 13th nationally.
• Butler is off to its first 7-0 start since 2016-17, and its seventh since 2001-02.
• The Hall of Fame Classic is Butler's seventh in-season tournament championship since 2001.
• Butler is one of 20 undefeated teams remaining nationally.
• Butler's 1.55 assist/turnover ratio is ninth nationally; individually, Aaron Thompson's 3.75 A/TO ratio is tenth in the NCAA.
• Butler has outscored opponents, 251-193, in the first half this season and by an identical 251-193 advantage in the second half this season.
• Butler has limited its first seven opponents to an average of 55.1 points per game, which is ninth nationally.
• Only two of Butler's seven opponents have scored more than 60 points.
• Butler's opponents have hit only 26.3 percent from behind the arc this season, the 19th-best defensive effort in the nation.
• By committing only 9.4 turnovers per game, Butler is third in the nation in that category.
• With Duke's loss to Stephen F. Austin last week, Butler now owns the nation's longest streak of consecutive non-conference home wins at 55.
• Butler's opponents have only scored 30 points in four of the 14 halves this season.
• Butler has out-rebounded six of its seven opponents this season.
• Baldwin (with 1,562 career points) is now 11th in Butler history.
• Twenty-five of Butler's 31 regular season games in 2019-20 are scheduled against power conference opponents.
• Butler has made the postseason in 13 of the last 14 seasons.
• Thompson's 142 assists in 2018-19 are 10th on Butler's single-season list.
 
CLASSIC PERFORMANCE IN KANSAS CITY: Senior guard Kamar Baldwin earned MVP honors at the 2019 Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, leading the Bulldogs to the title with 22 points in the championship game win over Stanford. Seventeen of those points came in the final 8:34 of the contest, including the game-winner with five seconds remaining.
 
Baldwin was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Bryce Golden. Both Baldwin and Golden led the Bulldogs with 13 points apiece in the semifinal win over Missouri.
 
PUTTING THE D IN DAWGS: Butler has limited its first seven opponents to an average of 55.1 points per game. That mark is ninth nationally. Only two of Butler's opponents have eclipsed 60 points.
 
TIGHT GRIP: Butler opened the season with five consecutive single-digit turnover games, including a season-low six in the Nov. 9 win over New Orleans. The Bulldogs are third nationally, committing only 9.4 turnovers per game.
 
DIFFERENT FORMULA FOR SUCCESS: Butler defeated Minnesota Nov. 12 despite a 3-of-14 performance from behind the arc. A season ago, Butler hit at least seven three-pointers in each of its wins. The Bulldogs hit six three-pointers in the season-opening win over IUPUI Nov. 6 and six against Wofford Nov. 16.
 
The Bulldogs turned 18 Minnesota turnovers into 25 points.
 
DOUBLE THE DOUBLE: Both Bryce Nze and Aaron Thompson posted double-doubles in the Nov. 9 win over New Orleans. Nze led the Bulldogs with 18 points to go along with his 10 rebounds. Thompson scored 12 points – all in the first half – and added 10 assists. For Thompson, it was his second career double-double, with his first coming in the 2019 NIT at Nebraska.
 
Nze posted double-doubles in his first two games as a Bulldog. He had 11 points and 11 rebounds in the season-opening win over IUPUI Nov. 6.
 
DEFINITION OF EFFICIENCY: Senior Sean McDermott made 10 of his 11 attempts from the field, including 4-of-5 from behind the arc, on his way to 26 points in the season-opening win over IUPUI Nov. 6. It was one point shy of his career-high.
 
THAT'S GOLD, BRYCE. GOLD.: Sophomore Bryce Golden logged his first career start in the Nov. 6 win over IUPUI, posting career-highs of 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists. He had 25 points and 11 rebounds total in 15 contests as a freshman.
 
MY TEAM IS ON THE FLOOR: Butler began its regular season opener vs. IUPUI with eight available players (but hoping to keep John-Michael Mulloy's redshirt opportunity available). After Kamar Baldwin and Campbell Donovan were injured within the first five minutes of the contest, the Bulldogs utilized Mulloy and played six players for the final 35 minutes.
 
Donovan is out for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee, sustained in the IUPUI game Nov. 6. Derrik Smits (knee) and Markeese Hastings (offseason hip surgery) have yet to play during the regular season.
 
WATCH OUT FOR HIM: Senior guard Kamar Baldwin has found his way onto the watch lists for several national awards: the Naismith Trophy Men's Player of the Year, the Wooden Award, and the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award.
 
The conference's head coaches also selected Baldwin to the 2019-20 Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team.
 
NOT MESSING AROUND: Eighteen of Butler's 31 regular season games are against teams ranked or receiving votes in the preseason AP Top 25 poll. Of the remaining 13 games, five (potentially six) are against teams that made the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
 
A season ago, Butler played 13 games against 2019 NCAA Tournament teams and another 11 against teams in the 2019 NIT field.
 
Twenty-five of Butler's 31 regular season games this season are against teams from power conferences.
 
NEW DAWGS: Butler has signed the highest-ranked recruiting class in program history, a group that was ranked in the Top 15 nationally by both Rivals and 247sports on National Signing Day Nov. 13.
 
The five-member signing class includes guards Myles Tate (Roebuck, S.C.) and Chuck Harris (Washington, D.C.), as well as forwards Carlos "Scooby" Johnson (Benton Harbor, Mich.), JaKobe Coles (Denton, Texas) and Myles Wilmoth (Barrington, R.I.).