Butler (12-13, 5-9 BIG EAST) at DePaul (12-11, 3-10 BIG EAST)
Tuesday, Feb. 15;  9PM ET
Wintrust Arena; Chicago, Ill.
TV:  FS1 - Aaron Goldsmith & Stephen Bardo
Radio:  1430AM - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
Varsity Network Radio App, XM381, SiriusXM App 971
 
Full Notes (PDF)
 
The Bulldogs return to the road for their first of three games in six days this week. Tuesday's tip at DePaul is followed by a Friday road game at St. John's (which is a make-up date from a Dec. 23 game that was postponed due to COVID issues within the Red Storm program at that time) and a Sunday home contest against Providence.
 
THE SERIES: Butler owns a 16-7 advantage in the all-time series with DePaul. The Bulldogs are 15-2 against the Blue Demons since joining the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season. The series dates back to an initial meeting in 1939.
 
Butler Leads, 16-7
Streak: Butler, W4
At DePaul: Butler Leads, 8-4
LaVall Jordan (at BU) vs. DePaul: 8-1
First Meeting: Butler, 39-29; 1939 (at DePaul)
Last Meeting: Butler, 63-59; 12/29/21 (at Hinkle)
 
• Aaron Thompson (541) is now Butler's leader in career assists; he broke Thomas Jackson's record (540) Saturday vs. Marquette.
• Butler had five players in double figures vs. Marquette, the first time that has happened since Dec. 23, 2020 vs. Providence.
• Butler's 85 points vs. Marquette tied for the team's season-high.
• The Bulldogs' 13 three-pointers were a season-high and the most since hitting 13 at DePaul Jan. 16, 2019.
• Bryce Golden scored a career-best 22 points Saturday vs. Marquette; it marked the third 20-point game of his career.
• Bo Hodges had 11 points and 11 rebounds vs. Marquette, his first double-double of the season and the fourth of his career.
• Butler's 18 assists vs. Marquette matched a season-high.
• Chuck Harris matched season-bests with four three-pointers and five assists vs. Marquette.
• Butler has won the rebounding margin in five of the last six games; Butler is 9-2 this season when winning the glass.
• Butler has limited its last six opponents to 25-for-120 shooting from three-point range (20.8 percent); the Bulldogs are now 39th nationally, allowing opponents to only shoot .301 from behind the arc this season.
• According to KenPom, Butler has played the 18th-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.
• Thompson (149) is now tenth on Butler's career steals list.
• Eight different Bulldogs have led the team in scoring this season.
• Simas Lukosius has twice earned BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors (Jan. 3 and Jan. 31).
• Lukosius has made 34 of his last 36 free throw attempts and is shooting 89 percent from the charity stripe on the season.
• All five of Lukosius's double-digit scoring games have come against BIG EAST opponents and the Bulldogs are 4-1 in those games.
 
FIRST TIME AROUND: Butler opened the BIG EAST portion of the schedule with a 63-59 win over DePaul Dec. 29 at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
Freshman Simas Lukosius led the Bulldogs with 15 points, including 13 in the opening 20 minutes and a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to ice the game. Chuck Harris and Jayden Taylor each added 13 points for Butler.
 
Aaron Thompson had seven points, seven assists and a career-high seven steals that were just one off the Butler program single-game record.
 
Butler led 60-50 with 5:55 to play following a Taylor lay-up. DePaul would chip into the lead and ultimately pulled within 60-58 with 48 seconds to play. An empty Butler possession was followed by DePaul being fouled with four seconds remaining. Brandon Johnson made the first, but missed the second free throw and Lukosius pulled down the rebound. The freshman made two free throws after being fouled to give Butler a 62-59 lead. A DePaul turnover essentially ended the game as Taylor added a free throw for the final margin.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Bryce Golden's career-high 22 points led five Bulldogs in double figures as Butler knocked off No. 18 Marquette by a score of 85-79 Saturday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
Butler led by as many as 21 points in the first half and by 18 with 14:18 to play after a Simas Lukosius three-pointer capped an 8-0 run that gave the Bulldogs a 54-36 lead. Marquette would respond with a 19-6 run to pull within five (60-55) at 7:44 remaining. The Golden Eagles would only get within four at one point the rest of the way.
 
Butler his six of its first eight attempts from behind the arc in opening a 31-11 lead less than 11 minutes into the game.
 
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.