Butler (11-12, 4-8 BIG EAST) at Creighton (13-8, 5-5 BIG EAST)
Tuesday, Feb. 8;  9PM ET 
CHI Health Center; Omaha, Neb.
TV:  CBS Sports Network - Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas & Jenny Dell
Radio:  1430AM - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
Varsity Network Radio App, XM382, SiriusXM App 972
 
Full Notes (PDF)
 
The Bulldogs travel to Omaha for a Tuesday evening tip with Creighton. This will be the second meeting in 14 days between the two teams.
 
THE SERIES: Creighton owns a 14-11 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 1933. The Bluejays are 7-1 (and winners of six straight) in games played in Omaha since Butler and Creighton both joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season. Prior to becoming conference foes, the two teams had not met since 1975.
 
Creighton Leads, 14-11
Streak: Butler, W1
At Creighton: Creighton Leads, 9-2
LaVall Jordan (at BU) vs. Creighton: 5-5
First Meeting: Creighton, 27-22; 1/30/33 (at CU)
Last Meeting: Butler, 72-55; 1/26/22 (at Hinkle)
 
• The 22 points by Bo Hodges in Saturday's game vs. St. John's were his high in a Butler uniform and included a career-best four three-pointers.
• Aaron Thompson (534) is approaching Thomas Jackson's Butler record of 540 career assists.
• Thompson (146) is one steal shy of tying Roosevelt Jones for tenth (147) on Butler's career steals list.
• Butler has limited its last four opponents to 11-for-74 shooting from three-point range (15 percent).
• 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.
• Bryce Nze scored 14 points Saturday vs. St. John's, which tied his season-high.
• Nze has led the Bulldogs in rebounding in 12 of his 16 games played this season.
• Butler has won the rebounding margin in three of the last four games; Butler is 8-1 when winning the glass.
• Jayden Taylor scored 18 points Wednesday at Xavier, tying his third-best scoring output of the season.
• Saturday was Nze's 100th start of his career with 70 of those coming at Butler.
• Simas Lukosius has twice earned BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors (Jan. 3 and Jan. 31).
• According to KenPom, Butler has played the 19th-toughest schedule in the nation so far this season; nine of Butler's 12 losses have come to teams currently ranked among the Top 30 in the NCAA NET metric.
• Thompson has shot 50 percent or better from the field in six straight games; Thompson is shooting 60 percent (24-40) from the field in that six-game stretch.
• Butler is shooting 79 percent from the free throw line over its last four games.
• Butler's 10 three-pointers vs. St. John's Saturday tied their second-best single-game mark this season.
• Lukosius has made 30 of his last 32 free throw attempts and is shooting 88 percent from the charity stripe on the season.
• All four of Lukosius's double-digit scoring games have come against BIG EAST opponents and the Bulldogs are 3-1 in those games.
 
FIRST TIME AROUND: An 18-2 second-half run proved to be the difference as Butler posted a 72-55 win over Creighton Jan. 26 at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
Bo Hodges led the Bulldogs with 18 points and seven rebounds; Chuck Harris and Simas Lukosius each added 14.
 
Butler led 34-32 with 14:22 remaining in the second half before unleashing the 18-2 spurt. Hodges had seven of the first nine in that run, which was capped by back-to-back three-pointers from Bryce Golden. The run gave the Bulldogs a 52-34 advantage with 10:05 to play. Creighton never got closer than 14 the rest of the way.
 
The Bulldogs held Creighton to 2-for-22 from three-point range, and Butler had a 40-30 edge in rebounding. Butler shot 41 percent from the field and hit 10 three-pointers.
 
LAST TIME OUT: St. John's used a 21-of-25 performance at the free throw line and several late stop to come away with a 75-72 win over Butler Saturday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
Julian Champagnie led the Red Storm with 21 points and went 9-for-10 from the free throw line.
 
The game featured 11 ties and 13 lead changes with the final tie coming 68-68 with 2:41 to play. The Red Storm's final seven points came at the free throw line (in eight attempts) as they didn't attempt a shot from the field in that final stretch.
 
Butler went 10-for-28 from behind the three-point line and shot 52 percent from the field overall. The Bulldogs only attempted five free throws.
 
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.