GAME 22:  Butler (8-13, 7-11 BIG EAST) vs. #8/6 Villanova (15-3, 10-2 BIG EAST)
Sunday, Feb. 28;  12PM
Hinkle Fieldhouse; Indianapolis, Ind.
TV:  CBS - Andrew Catalon & Steve Lappas
Radio:  107.5FM/93.5FM/1070AM - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
TuneIn Radio App, XM 383, SiriusXM Internet 973
Westwood One Radio - @BrandonGaudin & Kyle Macy
@ButlerMBB  |  #ButlerWay  |  ButlerSports.com

Full Notes (PDF)
 
The Bulldogs close out the home portion of the 2020-21 schedule by hosting Top 10 foe Villanova Sunday at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
• Aaron Thompson (shoulder/thumb) and Bo Hodges (calf) are questionable for Sunday's game.
• Butler is 7-4 at Hinkle Fieldhouse this season.
• Butler has won three of the last four meetings with Villanova played at Hinkle.
• The 52 points scored by Seton Hall Wednesday are a season-low for a Butler opponent.
• Bryce Nze posted his fourth double-double of the season vs. Seton Hall.
• Nze is averaging 14.4 points per game on 55-percent shooting at home this season.
• Jair Bolden had a team-high 16 points vs. Seton Hall (all in the second half); it pushed him over 1,000 points for his collegiate career.
• Butler went 16-of-17 from the free throw line against Seton Hall.
• Freshmen have scored 35 percent of Butler's points so far this season.
• Butler is allowing only 66.7 points per game in conference play, which is second in the BIG EAST.
• Butler's last three opponents are a combined 13-of-64 (20 percent) from three-point range.
• Nze is fourth in the BIG EAST at 8.0 rebounds per game.
• Freshman Chuck Harris leads the Bulldogs in scoring at 11.6 points per game; he has three 20-point games.
• Butler has committed single-digit turnovers in seven games this season.
• Eight different Bulldogs have led the team in scoring this season; five different Bulldogs have posted 20-point games.
• Harris ranks fifth in the BIG EAST in free throw percentage (.827) and tenth in three-point percentage (.389).
• Bolden is fifth in the BIG EAST at 2.6 three-pointers per game.
• Bryce Golden recorded his first career double-double Sunday at Xavier, including a career-best 12 rebounds.
• Butler's 76-73 overtime win over St. John's Feb. 9 included overcoming a 16-point deficit.
• No. 8 Creighton is the highest-ranked opponent Butler has beaten since a 101-93 win over No. 1 Villanova, Dec. 30, 2017.
 
THE SERIES: Butler and Villanova will meet for the 18th time, with all but one of those match-ups coming since the Bulldogs joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season. Three of Butler's four wins have come at Hinkle Fieldhouse, and each of those have come since 2017.
 
Villanova Leads, 13-4
Streak: Villanova, W1
At Hinkle Fieldhouse: Villanova Leads, 4-3
LaVall Jordan (at BU) vs. Villanova: 2-6
First Meeting: Villanova, 62-54; 11/30/96
(Puerto Rico Shootout)
Last Meeting: Villanova, 85-66; 12/16/20 (at VU)
 
FIRST TIME AROUND: No. 7 Villanova pulled away late from Butler, posting an 85-66 win in Philadelphia Dec. 16. For the Bulldogs, it was their first game in 21 days due to a COVID-19 pause following their season opener.
 
Collin Gillespie and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl led four Wildcats in double figures with 18 points apiece. The margin was 10 (70-60) when Aaron Thompson went down with a knee injury following his made basket with 4:36 to play.
 
Butler trimmed the lead to just two with 16:15 to play in the second half on Jair Bolden's fourth three-pointer of the game. But the lead soon grew to 11.
 
Bolden led the Bulldogs with 18 points, while Thompson added 14. Bolden provided the early scoring bunch for the Bulldogs, connecting on 13 of Butler's first 17 points as the team scored on its first eight possessions to take a 17-10 lead with 14:55 remaining in the first half. Bolden had 15 points over the first half.
 
Butler dressed only nine players, and at one point midway through the second half had four freshmen and reserve forward John-Michael Mulloy in the contest.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs opened the second half with a 20-6 run to turn a two-point halftime deficit into a 44-32 lead with 11:06 to play.
 
Jair Bolden led the Bulldogs with 16 points, all of which came in the second half. Butler shot 58 percent from the field in the second half (11-of 19).
 
The 52 points allowed to Seton Hall are the fewest scored by a Butler opponent this season. Butler limited Seton Hall to 38-percent shooting, and only a 6-of-27 clip from three-point range.
 
Bryce Nze returned to the line-up after missing the last two games with a groin injury. He posted 11 points and 13 rebounds, his fourth double-double of the season and the 14th of his career. Butler out-rebounded Seton Hall, 36-28.
 
The Bulldogs went 15-of-16 from the free throw line. Butler entered the night shooting .631 from the charity stripe, which was 325th nationally. Seton Hall got to the line only seven times.
 
Butler played without starting guards Aaron Thompson (shoulder/thumb) and Bo Hodges (calf) for the second consecutive game. Thompson also missed the Jan. 2 loss at Seton Hall, while Hodges had not had his NCAA waiver for immediate eligibility approved at that point in the season.
 
NEEDING EXTRA TIME: Butler's Aaron Thompson and Bryce Nze posted double-doubles, leading the Bulldogs to a clutch 76-73 overtime win over St. John's Feb. 9 at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
Thompson had 17 points, including the basket with two seconds remaining in regulation that sent the game to overtime, to go along with 10 assists. Nze had a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds.
 
The Bulldogs overcame a 16-point deficit. Butler was able to end the Red Storm's six-game winning streak.
 
Thompson and Nze are the first Bulldogs to post double-doubles in the same game since the same duo accomplished the feat Nov. 9, 2019 in a home win over New Orleans.
 
CALL IT A COMEBACK: Four of Butler's eight wins have included a double-digit comeback. The Feb. 9th 16-point comeback against St. John's is joined by three earlier ones in BIG EAST play. (12 vs. DePaul, Feb. 6; 13 vs. Creighton, Jan. 16; and 11 vs. Georgetown, Jan. 6).
 
The 16-point recovery against St. John's was Butler's biggest comeback since erasing a 20-point deficit at Georgetown Dec. 27, 2017, taking a 91-89 double-overtime win.
 
2 FOR 20: Bryce Nze and Chuck Harris each scored 22 points in the Feb. 6 home win over DePaul. For Nze, it set his high mark in a Butler uniform (he has a career-high of 25 points from his time at Milwaukee), while Harris tied his career-high set earlier this season against Southern Illinois. The duo combined for seven three-pointers.
 
Nze and Harris are the first Butler duo to score 20 points in the same game since Kamar Baldwin (30) and Jordan Tucker (24) did so against St. John's, Jan. 19, 2019.
 
INSTANT IMPACT: Bo Hodges had an appeal of a waiver for immediate eligibility approved by the NCAA prior to the Bulldogs' Jan. 30 game with Xavier. In just his second game (and his first start) for Butler, Hodges set career-highs with 12 rebounds and eight assists to go along with 15 points, narrowly missing a triple-double Feb. 2 at Marquette.
 
'BOARD' OUT OF HIS MIND: Redshirt senior Bryce Nze is fourth in the BIG EAST in rebounding at 8.0 caroms per game. Nze pulled down 14 rebounds Jan. 19 at DePaul, his second time in 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). He has seven games with 10 or more rebounds this season.
 
HANDLE WITH CARE: Butler averages only 11.7 turnovers per game. Butler had only six turnovers against Xavier Jan. 30, one of the team's seven single-digit turnover outputs this season. The six turnovers matched the team's season-low. The Bulldogs turned the ball over only seven times in 45 minutes of play in the Jan. 16 win over Creighton.
 
Butler has committed 10 or fewer turnovers in 55 of the 120 games that LaVall Jordan has been head coach at Butler.
 
YOUNG GUNS: The highest-rated recruiting class in Butler history has lived up to the billing so far. Chuck Harris, Myles Tate and JaKobe Coles (who is out for the remainder of the season with a meniscus injury) have each led the team in scoring in a game so far this season.
 
Harris has a pair of 22-point performances and is second among BIG EAST true freshmen  in scoring (trailing only Marquette's Dawson Garcia.)
 
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.
 
Tate posted a career-high 10 rebounds in his first career double-double Jan. 16 vs. Creighton. Tate recorded a career-high 22 points Jan. 2 at Seton Hall. His output included a career-best five three-pointers.