Butler (8-4, 0-1 BE) at Creighton (6-6, 0-1 BE)
Thursday, Dec. 22;  8PM ET
CHI Health Center; Omaha, Neb.

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THE SERIES: Creighton Leads, 15-11
Streak: Creighton, W1
In Omaha: Creighton Leads, 10-2
First Meeting: CU, 27-22; 1/30/1933
Last Meeting: CU, 54-52, 2/8/22

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

• Butler's five starters are each averaging double figures on the season, and the quintet has accounted for 781 of the team's 871 points scored. 
• Butler's average of 7.5 bench points per game ranks last (of 352 teams) nationally. 
• The Butler bench will be helped by the return of two transfers who were expected to be key contributors. Both Ali Ali and Jalen Thomas made their respective Butler debuts in Saturday's game with No. 3 UConn. Ali had been sidelined with concussion symptoms and nasal surgery, while Thomas was being treated for a pulmonary embolism. 
• Ali led Akron in scoring, three-point percentage and assists last season, earning second-team All-MAC honors. 
• Thomas has 116 career blocks, which put him fifth in Georgia State program history despite playing only three seasons there. 
• Butler is committing only 11.9 fouls per game, which is the fewest in the nation.
• Butler's 5.0 blocks per game are 35th nationally. 
• For the season, Butler is shooting 48.6 percent from the field, which is 38th nationally.
• Through 12 games, Butler has shot 50 percent or better from the field eight times; the Bulldogs hit the 50-percent mark six times all of last season (31 games). In a similar fashion, Butler already has six games this season shooting 40 percent or better from three-point range, which was only done four times during the 2021-22 season.
• Butler is 8-0 this season when leading at halftime. 
• Butler is 3-6 all-time in its BIG EAST road opener, but has won two of its last three.
• The series against Creighton stretches back to a pair of match-ups in 1933; of current BIG EAST opponents, only the series against Marquette dates back longer (1922).
• Among active coaches with at least 10 seasons of NCAA Division I experience, Thad Matta's .739 winning percentage ranks fourth (Few, Self, Calipari). 
• In Saturday's loss to UConn, Butler limited the Huskies to 39.4-percent shooting from the field, which was the second-best defensive performance against UConn so far this season.
• Chuck Harris scored a (then) career-best 29 points at Creighton March 6, 2021 in the regular season finale of his freshman campaign. 
• Jayden Taylor has averaged 17.2 points per game this season in Butler's five games away from Hinkle Fieldhouse. 
• Manny Bates is 11th nationally in blocks per game at 2.7 per game.
• Bates is 19th nationally with a 63.2 field goal percentage.
• Bates led the Bulldogs with 22 points and 10 rebounds against Kansas State Nov. 30, his third double-double of the season. 
• Eric Hunter Jr. posted the first double-double of his collegiate career in the Dec. 10 win at Cal; he scored 13 points to go along with a career-high 11 rebounds. 
• Including his seasons at Purdue, Hunter has 982 career points. 
• Harris is now tied for 23rd in Butler history in career three-pointers (115). 
• Harris posted career-highs of 32 points and six three-pointers in the Dec. 3 win over Tennessee Tech. 
• Simas Lukosius handed out a career-high seven assists against Kansas State Nov. 30, which also matched the most by a Butler player this season. 
• Butler has placed all five starters in double figures three times this season, with the most recent coming at Cal Dec. 10.
• Myles Tate has missed the last three games due to illness. DJ Hughes missed the team's most recent game Saturday vs. UConn (illness). John-Michael Mulloy has yet to play this season due to an ankle/foot injury.