Butler (10-8, 2-5 BIG EAST) vs. Villanova (8-9, 2-4 BIG EAST)
Friday, Jan. 13;  7PM
Hinkle Fieldhouse; Indianapolis, Ind.
 
TV: FS1 - Brandon Gaudin & Nick Bahe
Radio: 1430AM - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
Varsity Network Radio App, SiriusXM 381, SXM App 971
 
THE SERIES: Villanova Leads, 15-5
Streak: Villanova, W2
At Hinkle: Villanova Leads, 5-4
First Meeting: VU, 62-54; 11/30/96
Last Meeting: VU, 78-59; 3/5/22 
 
Bulldogs vs. Villanova
• The teams first met in the 1996 Puerto Rico Shootout; current Director of Athletics Barry Collier was Butler's head coach at the time.
• The remainder of the match-ups have come since Butler joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season.
• Four of Butler's five wins in the series have come at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
• Butler is 4-2 against Villanova in the six most recent meetings at Hinkle Fieldhouse; Villanova was ranked No. 1 nationally in two of those Butler wins.
 
Of Note:
• According to KenPom, Butler has played the nation's 14th-toughest schedule so far this season.
• Butler is committing only 12.6 fouls per game, which leads the nation.
• Butler is 7-2 at Hinkle Fieldhouse this season, averaging 75.1 points per game while hitting 50 percent from the field and 39 percent from three-point range.
• Matta is 20-3 at Hinkle Fieldhouse as the head coach at Butler (2000-01 and the current 2021-22 seasons).
• Butler's top five scorers each are averaging double figures, and all five have appeared in all 18 games for the Bulldogs.
• With the addition of Ali Ali to the first five Tuesday at St. John's, the Bulldogs utilized their third different starting line-up of the season.
• Ali became the seventh different Bulldog to register double figures in a game this season with his 10 points Tuesday at St. John's.
• Against St. John's, Ali posted season-highs in points (10), rebounds (4), assists (4), steals (2), and minutes (33). Ali missed the first 11 games of the season (nasal surgery/concussion symptoms). 
• With 17 points at St. John's, Chuck Harris led the Bulldogs in scoring for the fifth time this season and 26th time in his career.
• Harris, Manny Bates and Jayden Taylor have each led the Bulldogs in scoring in at least five games this season (includes ties).
• Butler committed 22 turnovers in Tuesday's loss at St. John's, the second-highest total of the season. Through the team's first six BIG EAST games, Butler was averaging a league-best 9.7 turnovers per game.
• The game also had Butler force St. John's into 18 turnovers with the Bulldogs collecting 12 steals. The 12 steals were the second-most of the season for Butler.
• Only three of Butler's 18 games this season have been decided by single digits.
• Simas Lukosius scored 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting at St. John's; he had averaged only 5.2 points per game over the six games prior to that.
• Jalen Thomas has led the Bulldogs in rebounding in three of his seven games played this season since returning from a pulmonary embolism. 
• Butler is 10-0 this season when leading at halftime.
• Butler is 10-0 this season when scoring 70 or more points.
• The Bulldogs are 7-0 this season when out-rebounding its opponent.
• Butler has shot 50 percent or better from the field nine times already this season; the Bulldogs hit the 50-percent mark six times all of last season (31 games). In a similar fashion, Butler already has eight games this season shooting 40 percent or better from three-point range, which was only done four times during the 2021-22 season.
• Among active coaches with at least 10 seasons of NCAA Division I experience, Thad Matta's .735 winning percentage ranks fourth (Few, Self, Calipari).
• Butler has placed all five starters in double figures three times this season, with the most recent coming at Cal Dec. 10.
• Harris is now 21st in Butler history in career three-pointers (123).
• Bates has 35 blocks already this season, moving him just two away from tenth on Butler's single-season list.
• Bates is 16th nationally with a 62.8 field goal percentage and is 35st nationally in blocks per game at 1.9 per game.
• Bates is shooting 62 percent in BIG EAST play, good for fifth in the conference.
• Eric Hunter Jr. led the Bulldogs with a career-high 23 points in Butler's most recent home game (a Jan. 4 win over DePaul). It marked the first time that Hunter led Butler in scoring this season.
• The New Year's Day win over Georgetown was the third-most lopsided win by Butler over a BIG EAST opponent since joining the conference in 2013-14 (89-56, at St. John's, 2/6/16; and 79-46, at DePaul, 3/6/14).
• Butler held Georgetown to 28.8-percent shooting in the win; it's the third time since joining the BIG EAST that Butler has held a conference opponent under 30-percent shooting (vs. St. John's, 1/27/18 and at Seton Hall, 1/25/17).