GAME 9: Butler (3-5, 2-3 BIG EAST) vs. Connecticut (5-1, 2-1 BIG EAST)
Saturday, Jan. 9; 4PM
Hinkle Fieldhouse; Indianapolis, Ind.
TV: CBS Sports Network - Jason Knapp & Chris Walker
Radio: 93.1FM - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
TuneIn Radio App, XM 386, SiriusXM Internet 976
@ButlerMBB | #ButlerWay | ButlerSports.com
The Bulldogs continue a quick two-game homestand, welcoming Connecticut to Hinkle Fieldhouse for the first time.
Butler is 3-5 on the young season and 2-3 in conference play. Georgetown is 5-1 and 2-1 (BIG EAST). All of Butler's wins have come at Hinkle this season where the Bulldogs are 3-1.
• This is Butler and UConn's first meeting since the 2011 NCAA National Championship Game in Houston.
• Butler closed Wednesday's 63-55 win over Georgetown on a 10-0 run.
• After missing the previous five games with a sprained knee ligament, Aaron Thompson returned to action for Butler vs. Georgetown.
• Butler is 22nd nationally, committing an average of only 10.6 turnovers per game.
• Five different Bulldogs have led the team in scoring over the team's first eight games.
• Four of Butler's top seven players in minutes played this season are true freshmen.
• Four different Bulldogs have posted 20-point games for Butler so far this season.
• Butler tied a season-low by committing only six turnovers against Georgetown.
• Butler limited Georgetown to only 34-percent shooting.
• Chuck Harris has scored in double figures in five straight games.
• Myles Tate scored a career-high 22 points Saturday at Seton Hall.
• Butler shot a season-best 11-of-22 from three-point range at Seton Hall.
• 52 percent of freshman Myles Wilmoth's rebounds this season have been on the offensive glass.
• JaKobe Coles (meniscus - left knee) is out indefinitely.
• Harris earned BIG EAST Freshman of the Week Dec. 28.
• Jair Bolden's 2.9 three-pointers per game are second in the BIG EAST.
• Bryce Nze ranks 13th in the BIG EAST at 6.8 rebounds per game.
• Bolden has led the Bulldogs in scoring in three of his eight career games in a Butler uniform.
• Butler put five players in double figures in the win over Providence Dec. 23.
• Tate had eight rebounds and seven assists (both career-highs) against Providence Dec. 23.
• Harris posted career-highs of 22 points and six assists vs. Southern Illinois Dec. 21.
THE SERIES: This is only the second meeting in the all-time series between the two programs. Butler and UConn will now meet at least twice per season with the Huskies' return to the BIG EAST.
The first match-up came in the 2011 national title game, which featured strong defense, a lot of missed shots, and a 53-41 UConn victory. The teams combined to go 31-of-119 from the field (26 percent). Nine of Butler's 12 makes were three-pointers.
Kemba Walker led UConn with 16 points in that game. He and then-Butler coach Brad Stevens are now both with the Boston Celtics. Jeremy Lamb scored 12 for UConn and he now resides in Indy as a member of the Indiana Pacers.
For Butler, it was the team's second consecutive run to the national championship game.
UConn Leads, 1-0
Streak: UConn, W1
At Hinkle Fieldhouse: 0-0
LaVall Jordan (at BU) vs. UConn: 0-0
First Meeting: UConn, 53-41; 4/4/11
(NCAA National Championship Game; Houston)
CLOSING TIME: Butler had chipped away at what was once an 11-point Georgetown lead. 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 Wednesday night at Hinkle. 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.
Over the past five games, Butler has been out-scored by a cumulative 45 points in the first half. In those same five games, the Bulldogs are +32 in the second half, including out-scoring Georgetown, 36-21, Wednesday night. Butler has bettered all five of those opponents over the final 20 minutes.
GETTING DEFENSIVE: Butler limited Georgetown to 34-percent shooting in Wednesday's win, which included holding the Hoyas to a 7-of-29 performance from the field in the second half (24 percent). Jahvon Blair entered the game as the BIG EAST's fourth-leading scorer at 19.0 points per game. Butler, keyed by the return of guard Aaron Thompson, held Blair to 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting.
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 seven Bulldogs in terms of minutes played through Butler's first eight 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.
For the season, Harris is third among the Bulldogs with an average of 12.0 points per game. He has scored in double figures in five straight games (and six of his eight collegiate contests). He led Butler with 18 points vs. Georgetown. Among true freshmen in the BIG EAST, only Marquette's Dawson Garcia (at 13.0 points per game) is averaging more.
Tate recorded a career-high 22 points Saturday at Seton Hall. His output included a career-best five three-pointers. He added five assists. For his efforts, he picked up a spot on the BIG EAST weekly honor roll.
Tate became the fourth different Bulldog (and second true freshman) to register a game of 20 or more points through the team's first seven games. Last season, only Kamar Baldwin and Sean McDermott scored more than 20 points in a game.
Tate is also the fifth Bulldog (and third true freshman) to lead the team in scoring through the first eight games. Butler's top two returning scorers - Bryce Nze and Bryce Golden - are not among the five players who have led the team in scoring at this point in the season.
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 six times in Wednesday's win over Georgetown, matching the team's fewest turnovers in a game so far this season. Butler's average of only 10.6 turnovers per game is 22nd nationally.
This continues a strong trend from last season. Butler had 14 games last season with 10 or fewer turnovers.
THREE AT A TIME: The Bulldogs shot a sizzling 11-of-22 from three-point range Saturday at Seton Hall. The 11 three-pointers were the most by a Butler team since hitting 12 at Nebraska March 20, 2019 in the NIT.
YOU WANT HIM BEHIND THAT LINE; YOU NEED HIM BEHIND THAT LINE: Graduate transfer Jair Bolden is off to a hot start in his Butler career. Bolden's average of 2.9 three-pointers per game is second in the BIG EAST (and 53rd nationally), while his three-point percentage of 42.6 percent is in the Top 60 nationally. Bolden is second on the team at 13.5 points per game.
Bolden's production from behind the arc has been increasingly important as the Bulldogs only return players who made 21 of the team's 212 three-pointers in 2019-20.
BALANCED ATTACK: In the Dec. 23 win over Providence, the Bulldogs put five players in double figures, led by freshman JaKobe Coles with 14 points. It was only the third time in more than two calendar years that Butler has had five players score 10 or more in the same game (win vs. St. John's, 3/4/20; loss vs. Providence, 2/1/20). Prior to that, Butler had five in double figures in a Dec. 8, 2018 win over Northern Illinois.
THE 'FIRM LAW' OF BRYCE AND BRYCE: Bryce Nze and Bryce Golden combined to score 17 of their 20 points in the second half of Wednesday's win over Georgetown. Each finished with 10 points. Nze (14 points and 11 rebounds) posted his first double-double of the season Dec. 21 vs. Southern Illinois, while Golden narrowly missed the first of his career (17 points and nine rebounds) in that same game. The 17 points were one shy of his career-high, while he tied his high mark in rebounds (which was originally set at Providence, Jan. 10, 2020).
