The Bulldogs continue a busy week with a Thursday match-up with Saint Francis (Pa.) at Hinkle Fieldhouse. 

Butler (1-1) vs. Saint Francis (1-2)
Thursday, Nov. 17;  6:30PM
Hinkle Fieldhouse; Indianapolis, Ind.

PDF Notes Available at https://bit.ly/3NGADRf

SERIES: Butler Leads, 1-0
Streak: Butler, W1
At Hinkle: Butler Leads, 1-0
First Meeting: Butler, 67-63; 1/6/76

TV:  FS2 & FOXSports App -  Dan Hellie & Casey Jacobsen
Radio:  1430AM - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
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• Butler is 65-2 over its last 67 non-conference home games
• Manny Bates has opened his Butler career with back-to-back double-doubles; his 25 points in the season-opener against New Orleans were a career-high.
• Butler is eighth nationally in turnover margin at +10.5 through its first two games. 
• The Bulldogs committed only five turnovers in Monday's Gavitt Games loss at Penn State
• Butler has forced 20.5 turnovers per game so far during the young season, which is 26th nationally.
• Through two games, Bates is ranked among the Top 40 nationally in four key categories: points per game (40th), rebounds per game (30th), field goal percentage (27th), and blocks per game (14th). 
• Jayden Taylor is a perfect 14-for-14 from the free throw line this season; Chuck Harris has also hit all five of his attempts. 
• Simas Lukosius played all 40 minutes Monday night at Penn State. 
• Butler and St. Francis have only met once previously (in 1976). In that Butler win, senior captain Barry Collier led the Bulldogs with 20 points. It was one of 10 times that season he led the team in scoring. Collier served as Butler's head coach from 1989-2000 and has been the Bulldogs' athletic director since 2006.  
• Butler opened the regular season with an 89-53 win over New Orleans, thanks in large part to a 54-24 edge in points in the paint and forcing UNO into 30 turnovers. 
• In his Butler debut, Bates posted a career-high 25 points and the third double-double of his career with 11 boards. He made 12 of his 15 attempts from the field. (His fourth career double-double came Monday night at Penn State.) 
• Bates is the first Bulldog to score at least 20 points in his Butler debut since Rotnei Clarke (21 vs. Elon in 2012). 
• Butler's 36-point victory over New Orleans was the largest by the Bulldogs since defeating Western Illinois, 107-46, at Hinkle Fieldhouse Dec. 21, 2017.
• Thad Matta returns to his alma mater as the head coach at Butler; he also led the Bulldogs as head coach during the 2000-01 season. 
• Matta is a combined 70-26 in the first season at each of his previous head coaching stops (Butler in 2000-01, Xavier in 2001-02 and Ohio State in 2004-05), winning at least 20 games in each of those seasons.
• Butler went on a foreign tour to Italy and Greece August 2-12, playing four games abroad.
• The Bulldogs were without Myles Wilmoth, Jalen Thomas, John-Michael Mulloy, and Ali Ali against Penn State due to various injuries. 
• BIG EAST coaches have voted Butler eighth in the conference's preseason poll, while Butler junior Chuck Harris was named Preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention for the second consecutive season.
• Butler's schedule includes 20 BIG EAST conference games as the league plays a true home-and-home round robin schedule. Butler will open the Battle 4 Atlantis with Tennessee, ranked No. 11 in both the preseason AP and coaches polls. The field also includes No. 5 Kansas, No. 24/25 Dayton, and USC, which is receiving votes in both polls. Butler will host Kansas State at Hinkle Fieldhouse in the BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle, and will travel to Penn State (Gavitt Games) and California during the non-conference portion of the schedule.
• Chuck Harris led Butler in scoring as both a freshman (2020-21) and a sophomore (2021-22). He looks to become the first Bulldog to lead the team in scoring in three consecutive seasons since Kellen Dunham (2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16).
• Butler adds four transfers for the 2022-23 season; three were members of 2022 NCAA Tournament teams (Eric Hunter Jr at Purdue, Ali Ali at Akron and Jalen Thomas at Georgia State). 
• Jalen Thomas will miss the beginning of the 2022-23 season while being treated for a pulmonary embolism.