Butler (11-13, 4-9 BIG EAST) vs. #18/19 Marquette (16-8, 8-5 BIG EAST)
Saturday, Feb. 12;  4:30PM
Hinkle Fieldhouse; Indianapolis, Ind.
TV:  FS1 - Alex Faust & Steve Lavin
Radio:  1430AM - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
Varsity Network Radio App, XM387, SiriusXM App 977
 
Full Notes (PDF)
 
The Bulldogs return to Hinkle Fieldhouse for a Saturday tip against No. 18 Marquette.
 
THE SERIES: Butler and Marquette have been BIG EAST foes since the 2013-14 season, but the series dates back to 1922. This will be the 46th meeting between the two programs with Butler holding a narrow 23-22 lead. The Bulldogs are 12-7 in Indianapolis, including a 6-2 clip at Hinkle since joining the BIG EAST.
 
This will be Marquette coach Shaka Smart's first trip to Hinkle, but he and the Bulldogs have squared off three times previously. Butler defeated Smart's VCU team in the 2011 national semifinals. VCU picked up a win over the Bulldogs in 2013 in Virginia when the two programs were in the Atlantic 10 for a single season. Smart also led his Texas team to a win over Butler in the 2017 PK80 event.
 
Butler Leads, 23-22
Streak: Marquette, W3
At Hinkle Fieldhouse: Butler Leads, 12-7
LaVall Jordan (at BU) vs. Marquette: 3-5
First Meeting: Marquette, 18-17; 12/16/1922 (at MU)
Last Meeting: Marquette, 73-57; 2/17/21 (at BU)
 
• Marquette is the only BIG EAST opponent that Butler has not yet played this season; the Bulldogs have already completed home-and-home series with UConn, Georgetown, Xavier and Creighton.
• Butler has limited its last five opponents to 15-for-91 shooting from three-point range (16 percent); the Bulldogs are now 36th nationally, allowing opponents to only shoot .299 from behind the arc this season.
• Butler's last four games have been decided by three points or less.
• According to KenPom, Butler has played the 17th-toughest schedule in the nation so far this season; nine of Butler's 13 losses have come to teams currently ranked among the Top 30 in the NCAA NET metric.
• Aaron Thompson (536) is approaching Thomas Jackson's Butler record of 540 career assists.
• Thompson (149) is now tenth on Butler's career steals list.
• Freshman Jayden Taylor led the Bulldogs with 13 points Tuesday at Creighton, his fifth time this season leading the team in scoring.
• Eight different Bulldogs have led the team in scoring this season.
• Both Bryce Golden and Bo Hodges pulled down a season-high nine rebounds in Tuesday's game at Creighton.
• The 22 points by Hodges in Saturday's game vs. St. John's were his high in a Butler uniform and included a career-best four three-pointers.
• Butler shot 52 percent from the field vs. St. John's Saturday, the fifth time this season that the Bulldogs have shot 50 percent or better from the field.
• Butler has won the rebounding margin in four of the last five games; Butler is 8-2 this season when winning the glass.
• Simas Lukosius has twice earned BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors (Jan. 3 and Jan. 31).
• Lukosius has made 32 of his last 34 free throw attempts and is shooting 88 percent from the charity stripe on the season.
 
ONE SEASON AGO: Marquette took both meetings a season ago. The Golden Eagles won 70-67 in Milwaukee Feb. 2 in a game that saw Butler erase an 18-point second-half deficit but allow Marquette to shoot 62 percent from the field. That was the first start of Bo Hodges's Butler career (and his second game) and he narrowly missed a triple-double with 15 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.
 
Butler was held to 34-percent shooting in Marquette's 73-57 win at Hinkle Feb. 17.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs got the stop they needed in the closing minute, but couldn't secure the loose rebound as Creighton was able to convert the second-chance opportunity and take a 54-52 win Tuesday night in Omaha.
 
Ryan Nembhard's driving lay-up with 32 seconds remaining gave the home Bluejays a 53-52 lead, just seconds after the Bluejays were able to grab an offensive rebound at the top of the key. Butler had two contested looks in the closing seconds sandwiched around a made Creighton free throw.
 
Freshman Jayden Taylor's 13th point of the game gave Butler a 52-51 lead with 1:04 to play. That was Butler's first lead since two Bryce Nze free throws gave the Bulldogs a 35-34 lead with 15:48 remaining in the game. Creighton quickly followed that with a 14-5 spurt that gave the Bluejays their largest lead of the game at 48-40 with 9:17 to play. That is when Butler would claw back into the contest.
 
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 20 teams in this week's AP poll (No. 3 Purdue -- Crossroads Classic, No. 17 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. In the Jan. 26 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 the Jan. 29 win over Georgetown, recording 13 points. He shot 45 percent from three-point range in the team's two games.
 
QUITE THE BATTLE: As part of the annual BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle, the Bulldogs picked up a 66-62 overtime road win Dec. 7 at Oklahoma. Chuck Harris led the Bulldogs with 26 points. Butler trailed by 10 points at the half and by 13 early in the second half before clawing all the way back. After Oklahoma forced overtime with a three-pointer with two seconds remaining in regulation, the Sooners took a 62-58 lead in overtime before Butler scored the game's final eight points.