Butler (10-10, 3-6 BIG EAST) vs. Georgetown (6-11, 0-6 BIG EAST)
Saturday, Jan. 29;  12PM 
Hinkle Fieldhouse; Indianapolis, Ind.
TV:  FS1 - Matt Schumacker & Dickey Simpkins
Radio:  1430AM - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
Varsity Network Radio App, XM382, SiriusXM App 972
 
Full Notes (PDF)
 
The Bulldogs conclude a quick two-game homestand with a Saturday tip against Georgetown at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
THE SERIES: Georgetown owns a slight 10-9 advantage in the all-time series, one that began with the 2009 Jimmy V Classic. Each team has actually been better on the opposing team's home court. The Hoyas are 6-2 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. However, Butler came away with a 63-55 win in the last match-up in Indianapolis (Jan. 6, 2021).
 
Georgetown Leads, 10-9
Streak: Butler, W1
At Hinkle Fieldhouse: Georgetown Leads, 6-2
LaVall Jordan (at BU) vs. GU: 5-4
First Meeting: Georgetown, 72-65; 12/8/09 (NYC)
Last Meeting: Butler, 72-58, 1/13/22 (at GU)
 
FIRST TIME AROUND: Butler posted a 72-58 win over Georgetown Jan. 13 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. Jair Bolden led the Bulldogs with 23 points, which included five three-pointers. That marked a new high for Bolden in his two seasons at Butler. Butler went 17-of-19 from the free throw line.
 
Butler opened the second half by scoring 18 of the first 22 points to take a 50-31 lead with 13:52 remaining in the game.
 
Georgetown entered the game making 38.0 percent of their three-point attempts, which is Top 30 in the NCAA. Butler limited the Hoyas to a 3-of-16 performance from behind the arc. Butler's defense held Aminu Mohammed and Kaiden Rice to combined 3-for-25 shooting from the field. Rice entered the game averaging 4.1 three-pointers per game.
 
• Jair Bolden had 23 points in Butler's Jan. 13 win at Georgetown; it was the most points scored by Bolden in a Butler uniform.
• The 18 points by Bo Hodges in Wednesday's win over Creighton were the most he has scored in a Butler uniform.
• Butler limited Creighton to 2-of-22 shooting from three-point range in Wednesday's win.
• The Bulldogs committed only 10 turnovers vs. Creighton, the team's seventh time this season with 10 or fewer turnovers.
• Butler's 10 three-pointers against Creighton tied for their second-most in a game this season.
• Butler is 7-0 this season when winning the rebounding battle as they did Wednesday night vs. Creighton (40-30).
• According to KenPom, Butler has played the fourth-toughest schedule in the nation so far this season; eight of Butler's 10 losses have come to teams currently ranked among the Top 33 in the NCAA NET metric.
• Bryce Nze has led the Bulldogs in rebounding in 10 of the 13 games he has played this season.
• Chuck Harris led the Bulldogs with 21 points vs. Providence Sunday, his third 20-point game of the season which includes a season-best 26 points in the Dec. 7 win at Oklahoma.
• Freshman Jayden Taylor led the Bulldogs with 19 points Jan. 18 at UConn, the second-best scoring output of his career.
• Taylor is third among true freshmen in the BIG EAST in scoring.
• Freshman Simas Lukosius scored a career-high 17 points Jan. 18 at UConn.
• Bryce Golden is shooting 56.4 percent from the field this season, which would lead the BIG EAST if he had enough attempts to qualify for the league rankings.
• Wednesday's game vs. Creighton was Aaron Thompson's eighth time this season (in his 17 games) with five or more assists.
• Thompson is the second Bulldog to register 500 career assists (522).
• Thompson's 20 points vs. Xavier Jan. 7 were one shy of his career-high.
 
LAST TIME OUT: An 18-2 second-half run proved to be the difference as Butler posted a 72-55 win over Creighton Wednesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
Bo Hodges led the Bulldogs with 18 points and seven rebounds; Chuck Harris and Simas Lukosius each added 14.
 
Butler led 34-32 with 14:22 remaining in the second half before unleashing the 18-2 spurt. Hodges had seven of the first nine in that run, which was capped by back-to-back three-pointers from Bryce Golden. The run gave the Bulldogs a 52-34 advantage with 10:05 to play. Creighton never got closer than 14 the rest of the way.
 
TOUGH SLATE: In addition to a true round-robin format that has Butler playing all 10 BIG EAST foes both on the road and at home, the Bulldogs challenged themselves significantly with this season's non-conference schedule.
 
Butler's non-conference opponents include three of the top 10 teams in this week's AP poll (No. 6 Purdue -- Crossroads Classic, No. 10 Michigan State -- Gavitt Games, and No. 7 Houston -- Maui Invitational in Las Vegas).
 
WEEKLY HONOR: Simas Lukosius was selected as the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week as announced Jan. 3. This is the first weekly honor of Lukosius's career. Lukosius led the Bulldogs to a 63-59 win over DePaul Dec. 29 in the team's only action of the week. The 6-6 guard scored a team-best (and career-high) 15 points. He hit two free throws with four seconds remaining to ice the game after scoring 13 points in the first half. He added four rebounds.