GAME 24:  #19/19 Butler (18-5, 6-4 BIG EAST) vs. rv/rv Marquette (16-6, 6-4)
 
Sunday, Feb. 9;  11AM (CT)
Fiserv Forum; Milwaukee, Wis.
TV:  FS1 - @KevinKugler & @StephenBardo
RADIO:  93.5/107.5/1070 - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
TuneIn Radio App, Sirius 81, XM 81, SiriusXM Internet 81
 
Full Notes (PDF)
 
The Bulldogs return to the road for a Sunday morning match-up with Marquette in Milwaukee. The teams put on a show just two weeks ago at Hinkle Fieldhouse as the Bulldogs came away with an 89-85 overtime win.
 
Butler, ranked 19th in both of this week's national polls, is 18-5. Marquette is 16-6 and receiving votes in both national polls. Both teams enter with 6-4 marks in BIG EAST play.
 
THE SERIES: Butler Leads, 23-19
Streak: Butler, W1
In Milwaukee: Marquette Leads, 12-10
First Meeting: Marquette, 18-17, 12/16/1922 (Milwaukee)
Last Meeting: Butler, 89-85 (OT), 1/24/20 (Indianapolis)
 
• Butler and Marquette will meet for the second time in a 17-day span.
• Kamar Baldwin scored 29 of his 31 points after halftime in Butler's 89-85 OT win over Marquette Jan. 24 at Hinkle.
• Sean McDermott led Butler with 21 points in Wednesday's win over No. 10 Villanova; it was his seventh career 20-point game.
• Baldwin's step-back three-pointer as time expired gave Butler a 79-76 win over Villanova.
• Butler shot .577 in the win over Villanova, the team's second-highest percentage of the season.
• Bryce Golden posted a career-best 18 points (9-12 FG) against Villanova.
• In 80 minutes this season vs. Villanova, Butler committed a total of only 11 turnovers.
• Baldwin has led the Bulldogs in scoring in eight of the last 10 games.
• Baldwin has been selected as one of the Top 10 candidates for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award.
• Through Thursday's games, Butler's eight NET Quad 1 wins trail only Kansas (nine). Baylor and Seton Hall each have seven.
• The Bulldogs are ninth in the nation, allowing only 60.6 points per game; it's the first time this season that the opponent's average has climbed above 60.0.
• Butler is 3-2 in BIG EAST road games after going 2-7 a season ago.
• McDermott's career-high of 27 points came Feb. 20, 2019 at Marquette.
• Butler has out-rebounded 18 of its 23 opponents this season after out-rebounding only 10 of 33 in 2018-19.
• Butler's field goal percentage defense (.382) is 16th nationally.
• Butler overcame a 14-point deficit to defeat Georgetown on the road Jan. 28; Butler limited Georgetown to 21 points (7-of-33 shooting) in the second half.
• Baldwin is averaging 18.7 points per game in BIG EAST play, which is third in the conference.
• Butler leads the BIG EAST in rebounding margin in conference games (+5.2).
• Baldwin is sixth on Butler's career scoring list with 1,821 points.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Kamar Baldwin's step-back three-pointer as time expired gave Butler a 79-76 win over No. 10 Villanova Wednesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
 
Butler's closing stretch included the Bulldogs making nine of their final 11 attempts from the field. Villanova made five of its final six shots (all three-pointers) over the final 4:30 of the game. It was Saddiq Bey's three-pointer with 25 seconds remaining that tied the game. Butler held the lead since breaking a 56-56 tie with 9:15 on the clock.
 
A Baldwin three-pointer matched Butler's largest lead at 68-58 (5:44 remaining). But the teams would trade difficult makes down the stretch with most of Villanova's coming from behind the line to slowly chip away at the lead before Baldwin's heroics.
 
Butler shot 58 percent from the field, including 6-of-13 from three-point range. Villanova countered by shooting 47 percent, keyed by 9-of-17 shooting from behind the arc.
 
Sean McDermott led the Bulldogs with 21 points and eight rebounds. He went 7-of-8 from the field, and made all three of his three-point attempts. His offensive rebound and two free throws gave Butler its 76-73 lead with 32 seconds remaining so Bey's shot could only tie the game.
 
Bryce Golden scored a career-best 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Baldwin finished with 17 points and eight boards. Aaron Thompson, who missed the last three games with a wrist injury suffered in the Jan. 21 loss at Villanova, returned to action Wednesday night. He scored nine points in helping the Bulldogs to its most efficient offensive performance of the season.
 
Bey (29) and Collin Gillespie (28) combined for 57 of Villanova's 76 points. The Wildcats committed only three turnovers, compared to just six by the Bulldogs.
 
Golden's performance helped the Bulldogs to a 42-28 advantage in points in the paint.
 
CAPITAL OFFENSE: Senior Sean McDermott helped Butler erase an 11-point halftime deficit, matching his career-high with seven three-pointers in a 69-64 road win over Georgetown Jan. 28 in the nation's capital. McDermott finished with 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting.
 
Georgetown led by as many as 14 in the first half, but the halftime speech in the Butler locker room worked as the Bulldogs opened the second stanza by scoring 18 of the first 21 points. Eleven straight from McDermott gave the Bulldogs a 50-46 lead with 14:05 remaining.
 
With the game tied 64-64 with just over a minute remaining, it was McDermott's final three-pointer of the game that gave Butler the win.
 
The Bulldogs limited Georgetown to 21 points in the second half on 7-of-33 shooting (21 percent). Georgetown's top two leading scorers Mac McClung and Omer Yurtseven were a combined 8-for-30 on the night for the Hoyas.
 
McDermott has showcased his versatility in BIG EAST games as he is fifth in rebounding (7.8 per game) and eighth in three-pointers made (2.1 per game).
 
FIRST TIME AROUND: Kamar Baldwin scored 29 of his 31 points after halftime in an 89-85 overtime win over Marquette Jan. 24 at Hinkle. For his efforts, Baldwin earned the first BIG EAST Player of the Week honors of his career. Playing a career-high 31 minutes to help overcome the absence of injured Aaron Thompson, senior Henry Baddley scored a season-high 10 points to go along with a career-high three steals. Fellow senior Sean McDermott added 16 points and nine rebounds.
 
Thirty-eight of Marquette's 69 attempts from the field came from behind the arc; Butler won despite the Golden Eagles hitting 16 three-pointers.
 
COMING UP CLUTCH: In 17 games against power conference opponents (which includes Butler's 10 BIG EAST games), Baldwin is averaging 12.6 points after halftime. All 20 of his points in the Jan. 4 win over Creighton came in the second half. His second-half performances include 18 vs. Minnesota, 17 vs. Stanford, 19 at Ole Miss, and 16 at Villanova, in addition to the 19 points in the second half vs. Marquette (followed by an additional 10 in overtime).
 
With 5:42 remaining in regulation vs. Marquette Jan. 24, Baldwin stepped to the line with eight points and Butler trailing by five. He scored 23 points over the next 10:42 of play. His defense also helped to hold Marquette's Markus Howard scoreless over the final 7:30 of play.
 
HANDLE WITH CARE: Butler committed only six turnovers in Wednesday's win over Villanova. It was the team's tenth game this season with 10 or fewer turnovers. The Bulldogs committed a season-low five turnovers at Villanova Jan. 21. The Bulldogs followed that by committing only 11 turnovers in 45 minutes of action in the win over Marquette Friday.
 
ON THE BOARDS: What was one of Butler's most glaring weaknesses a season ago has become a strength in 2019-20. The Bulldogs have out-rebounded 18 of its 23 opponents this season after out-rebounding only 10 of 33 in 2018-19. Butler has taken that up a level in BIG EAST play, out-rebounding opponents by an average margin of +5.2. Butler held a 46-24 rebounding advantage at St. John's in the BIG EAST opener on New Year's Eve, its largest margin since 63-28 vs. The Citadel Nov. 14, 2015. The Bulldogs also out-rebounded Providence, 44-26, in the Jan. 10 win in Rhode Island.
 
ON THE DEFENSIVE:
• Only 11 Butler opponents have scored 60 or more points; Butler has also limited four opponents to 50 or fewer points. 
• Only eight of Butler's opponents have registered more assists than turnovers.
• Only four of Butler's opponents have shot better than 45 percent from the field; 13 have been held to less than 40 percent shooting.
• Butler has limited 12 of its opponents to less than 30-percent shooting from three-point range this season.