GAME 13:  Butler (5-7, 4-5 BIG EAST) at Connecticut (7-3, 4-3 BIG EAST)
Tuesday, Jan. 26;  8:30PM
Gampel Pavilion;  Storrs, Conn.
TV:  FS1 - Eric Collins & Bill Raftery
Radio:  93.5FM/107.5FM/1070AM - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
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Full Notes (PDF)

In search of its third win in a row, Butler travels to Storrs, Conn. for the first time in program history. The Bulldogs had an unplanned weekend off after what eventually was proven to be a false positive COVID test postponed the team's scheduled game with Seton Hall Friday. 

• Jair Bolden posted a season-high and his second 20-point game of the season with 21 points at DePaul Tuesday.
• Butler limited DePaul to 17 first-half points.
• DePaul's 33-percent field goal percentage was a season-low for a Butler opponent.
• No. 8 Creighton is the highest-ranked opponent Butler has beaten since a 101-93 win over No. 1 Villanova, Dec. 30, 2017.
• Butler was able to overcome a season-worst 18 turnovers in the win against DePaul after the Bulldogs committed only seven turnovers in 45 minutes of play vs. Creighton Jan. 16.
• Bryce Nze has pulled down a total of 37 rebounds over his last three games (including 14 twice).
• Myles Tate posted his first career double-double (15p/10r) vs. Creighton. 
• With 416 assists, Aaron Thompson is now sixth on Butler's career list.
• Thompson has shot 50 percent or better in each game he has played this season.
• Bolden leads the BIG EAST at 3.1 three-pointers per game. 
• Bolden has led the Bulldogs in scoring in five of his 12 career games in a Butler uniform.
• Nze ranks third in the BIG EAST at 8.1 rebounds per game.
• Chuck Harris has scored in double figures in eight of his first 11 college games.
• JaKobe Coles (meniscus - left knee) is out indefinitely.
• Six different Bulldogs have led the team in scoring this season.
• Four of Butler's top eight players in minutes played this season are true freshmen. 
• Four different Bulldogs have posted 20-point games for Butler so far this season.
• Only three Bulldogs have appeared in all 12 games this season.
• Freshmen have scored 38 percent of Butler's points so far this season.
• Butler is 4-1 when Thompson, Harris and Golden all play; Butler is 1-6 when one of them has been unavailable (1-4 without Thompson specifically). 

THE SERIES: Butler and UConn have met only twice previously with the Huskies winning the 2011 national championship game in Houston in addition to a victory at Hinkle Fieldhouse Jan. 9.

UConn Leads, 2-0
Streak: UConn, W2
At UConn: 0-0
LaVall Jordan (at BU) vs. UConn: 0-1
First Meeting: UConn, 53-41; 4/4/11 (NCAA National Championship Game; Houston)
Last Meeting: UConn, 72-60, 1/9/21

FIRST TIME AROUND: A strong outing from the bench and behind the three-point line led visiting Connecticut to a 72-60 win over Butler Jan. 9.
 
The Huskies went 10-of-21 from behind the arc, including hitting five of their first seven attempts to build a lead they would not relinquish. Twenty-eight of their points came from the bench, including leading scorer Tyler Polley with 19. 

Bryce Nze led Butler with 18 points and six rebounds. He went 6-of-8 from the field. He was joined in double figures by Aaron Thompson (14) and Bryce Golden (10). Thompson had six assists. The Bulldogs were uncharacteristically done in by turnovers, committing 15 on the afternoon.
 
FIGHT IN THE DAWG: Butler overcame a 13-point deficit with less than eight minutes to play, pulling out a gritty 70-66 overtime win over No. 8 Creighton Jan. 16 at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
For Butler, No. 8 Creighton is the highest-ranked opponent Butler has beaten since a 101-93 win over No. 1 Villanova, Dec. 30, 2017.
 
Creighton unleashed a 26-3 run early in the second half to erase a seven-point Butler halftime lead and ultimately take a 51-38 advantage with 11:28 to play. At that point in the second half, Butler was 1-of-14 from the field, while the Bluejays hit 11 of their first 13 attempts. A Denzel Mahoney free throw had the CU advantage at 13 again (58-45) with 7:38 to play. Butler closed regulation on a 17-4 run to send the game to overtime.

Butler has limited Creighton's prolific offense to a combined 10-of-45 mark from three-point range in the last two games at Hinkle. 

The 17-4 run by the Bulldogs to send the game to overtime was similar to the Bulldogs' closing stretch in the Jan. 6 win over Georgetown. A Hoya basket with 4:29 remaining gave Georgetown a 55-53 lead. Butler held the Hoyas scoreless the rest of the way in taking a 63-55 win. That closing 10-0 run proved to be the distance. Overall, Butler forced Georgetown misses on 13 of their final 14 attempts from the field.

AND THE STARTS: In the team's most recent outing, a 67-53 win at DePaul, Butler limited the Blue Demons to 17 first-half points and 7-of-28 shooting (25 percent) in the first half. In Saturday's win over Creighton, Butler held the Bluejays to a season-low 25 points in the first half. 
 
PUTTING THE D IN DAWGS: Butler held DePaul to 33-percent shooting Tuesday, the lowest mark for a Butler opponent so far this season. Butler limited DePaul's top three leading scorers, Charlie Moore, Javon Freeman-Liberty and Romeo Weems, to only 15 points on 5-of-26 shooting. The trio entered the match-up averaging 38.4 points per game.

N-ZE ZONE: Redshirt senior Bryce Nze has put together notable performances in each of the team's four most recent outings. Nze pulled down 14 rebounds Tuesday at DePaul, his second time in the last three outings hitting that mark (also at St. John's Jan. 12). It is his highest total in a Butler uniform (although he had 17 in a game while playing at Milwaukee). 

Against Creighton Jan. 16, Nze had 15 points and nine rebounds, knocking down two three-pointers in the same game for the first time in his career. Nze had 18 points vs. UConn Jan. 9, tying his Butler scoring high (he previously scored 25 points in a game while at Milwaukee).

6-0 PULLS DOWN 10: Six-foot freshman point guard Myles Tate posted a career-high 10 rebounds in his first career double-double Jan. 16 vs. Creighton. It was his second time leading the team in rebounding, as he had eight boards in the win over Providence Dec. 23. 

YOUNG GUNS: The highest-rated recruiting class in Butler history has lived up to the billing so far. Four true freshmen are among the top eight Bulldogs in terms of minutes played through Butler's first 12 games. Chuck Harris, Myles Tate and JaKobe Coles (who is currently sidelined with a meniscus injury) have each scored in double figures in multiple games so far this season and all three have led the team in scoring in a game so far this season. In a six-point game midway through the second half at No. 7 Villanova Dec. 16, coach LaVall Jordan employed a line-up of his four freshmen alongside John-Michael Mulloy, who played a total of 76 minutes as a freshman last season. 

Harris was  named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week by the conference office Dec. 28. Harris is the third Bulldog to earn Freshman of the Week honors since the Bulldogs joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season. He joins Kelan Martin (final week of the 2014-15 regular season) and Kamar Baldwin (twice during the 2016-17 season) on that list.

Among true freshmen in the BIG EAST, only Marquette's Dawson Garcia (at 13.4 points per game) is averaging more than Harris (10.9).

Tate recorded a career-high 22 points Jan. 2 at Seton Hall. His output included a career-best five three-pointers. 

Four Bulldogs (including two true freshman) have registered a game of 20 or more points this season. In 2019-20, only Kamar Baldwin and Sean McDermott scored more than 20 points in a game. 

This is only the third season since 2008-09 that three true freshmen have started a game for Butler: 2020-21 (Tate, Harris, Coles); 2011-12 (Roosevelt Jones, Kameron Woods, Jackson Aldridge); and 2008-09 (Gordon Hayward, Shelvin Mack, Ron Nored). 

TIGHT SQUEEZE: Butler turned the ball over only seven times in 45 minutes of play in Saturday's win over Creighton. The Bulldogs committed only six turnovers in the Jan. 6 win over Georgetown, matching the team's fewest turnovers in a game so far this season. Despite withstanding a season-worst 18 turnovers in Tuesday's win at DePaul, Butler averages only 11.8 turnovers per game.