Butler (11-10, 4-6 BIG EAST) at #21/23 Xavier (15-5, 5-4 BIG EAST)
Wednesday, Feb. 2;  7PM 
Cintas Center; Cincinnati, Ohio
TV:  CBS Sports Network - Tom McCarthy, Chris Walker & AJ Ross
Radio:  1430AM - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
Varsity Network Radio App, XM387, SiriusXM App 977
 
Full Notes (PDF)
 
The Bulldogs take their two-game winning streak back on the road Wednesday night with a tip against No. 21 Xavier. This is Butler's ninth Top 25 foe through the first 22 games of the season.
 
• Simas Lukosius earned BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors Monday, his second recognition of the season.
• Bryce Nze posted his first double-double of the season in Saturday's win over Georgetown; he has led the Bulldogs in rebounding in 11 of his 14 games played this season.
• Butler's last two opponents (Georgetown and Creighton) have combined to shoot only 6-for-41 from three-point range (15 percent).
• Butler is a combined +16 in rebounding margin over its last two games; the Bulldogs are 8-0 this season when winning the battle on the glass.
• According to KenPom, Butler has played the 15th-toughest schedule in the nation so far this season; eight of Butler's 10 losses have come to teams currently ranked among the Top 30 in the NCAA NET metric.
• Aaron Thompson went 6-for-8 from the field in Saturday's win over Georgetown, his best shooting percentage of the season; Thompson is shooting 60 percent (16-25) from the field over his last four games.
• The 18 points by Bo Hodges in Wednesday's win over Creighton were the most he has scored in a Butler uniform.
• Chuck Harris is averaging 14.2 points per game in the team's five true road games this season.
• Lukosius is averaging 11.0 points per game over the team's last five outings.
• The 87 points allowed to Xavier in the Jan. 7 game at Hinkle were a season-high for a Butler opponent.
• Thompson led Butler with 20 points in the Jan. 7 loss to Xavier; Bryce Golden scored 19. Both of those outputs were one shy of their respective career-highs.
• All four of Lukosius's double-digit scoring games have come against BIG EAST opponents and the Bulldogs are 3-1 in those games.
 
THE SERIES: Butler and Xavier have met as conference opponents as members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, the Atlantic 10 (for a single season), and the BIG EAST (since the 2013-14 season). Xavier holds a 24-5 advantage in games played in Cincinnati between the two teams; the Musketeers lead the all-time series 44-24. 
 
Xavier Leads, 44-24
Streak: Xavier, W1
At Xavier: Xavier Leads, 24-5
LaVall Jordan (at BU) vs. Xavier: 3-6
First Meeting: Xavier, 28-26; 1/16/37 (at XU)
Last Meeting: Xavier, 87-72; 1/7/22 (at BU)
 
FIRST TIME AROUND: In a game that saw both teams shoot 50 percent or better from the field, No. 22 Xavier topped Butler, 87-72, Jan. 7 at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
Adam Kunkel led the Musketeers with 25 points, including 4-of-8 from three-point range. Xavier went 10-of-22 from three-point range and shot 55 percent overall from the field for the game.
 
Aaron Thompson's driving layup pulled Butler within 62-55 with 8:47 to play before Kunkel grabbed a loose offensive rebound and hit a three-pointer to return the game to double figures.
 
Thompson (20) and Bryce Golden (19) each finished the game one shy of their respective career-highs.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Butler picked up a gritty 56-53 win over Georgetown Saturday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
Bryce Nze posted his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Simas Lukosius led the Bulldogs with 13 points and Aaron Thompson added 12.
 
Georgetown's Aminu Mohammed's layup with 1:24 to play gave the visiting Hoyas a 53-52 advantage, which was GU's first lead since an 11-8 edge with 11:56 remaining in the first half. Mohammed's points would be the final scoring of the day for Georgetown as Thompson immediately responded with a driving lay-up to regain the Butler lead. After a Georgetown turnover, Chuck Harris stretched the lead to 56-53 with two free throws. Butler then contested Donald Carey's three-point attempt from the corner as time expired to secure the win.
 
Georgetown is 24th nationally, shooting 37.8 percent from three-point range this season. Butler limited the Hoyas to a combined 7-for-35 clip (20 percent) in the Bulldogs' two wins.
 
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 15 teams in this week's AP poll (No. 4 Purdue -- Crossroads Classic, No. 13 Michigan State -- Gavitt Games, and No. 6 Houston -- Maui Invitational in Las Vegas).
 
TWO TIMES FOR THE FIRST YEAR: Simas Lukosius was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week Jan. 31 following an impressive 2-0 week for the Bulldogs. This is the second weekly conference honor for the Lithuanian, who also was recognized on Jan. 3.
 
Lukosius averaged 13.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in the team's two contests last week. In Wednesday's win over Creighton, Lukosius scored 14 points and went 6-for-6 from the free throw line. He was the team's leading scorer in Saturday's win over Georgetown, recording 13 points. He shot 45 percent from three-point range in the team's two games.