The Bulldogs head east for a two-game road swing, starting with Seton Hall Saturday night and followed by a Tuesday tip at St. John's. Butler enters the trip off two consecutive wins, highlighted by career-best performances by Eric Hunter Jr. and Jayden Taylor in those respective contests.
 
Butler (10-6, 2-3 BIG EAST) at Seton Hall (8-8, 1-4 BIG EAST)
Saturday, Jan. 7;  8:30PM
Prudential Center; Newark, N.J.
 
TV: FS1 - John Fanta & Tarik Turner
Radio: 1430AM - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
Varsity Network Radio App
SiriusXM 385, SXM App 975
 
PDF notes can be found here:  https://bit.ly/3NGADRf
 
THE SERIES: Tied, 10-10
Streak: Seton Hall, W2
At SHU: Seton Hall Leads, 5-4
First Meeting: BU, 64-57; 1/29/14
Last Meeting: SHU, 66-60; 2/23/22
 
Bulldogs vs. Pirates
• All of the match-ups in the series have come since Butler joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season.
• Seton Hall has won two straight in the series and five of the last six contests between the programs.
• Butler won the first four games played in New Jersey, but Seton Hall has responded to win on their home court the last five times.
 
OF NOTE:
• Eric Hunter Jr. led the Bulldogs with a career-high 23 points in Wednesday's win over DePaul. It marked the first time that Hunter led Butler in scoring this season.
• Hunter also scored his 1,000th career point in the win over DePaul; the first 842 points of his career came during his playing days at Purdue.
• Butler went 23-for-30 from the free throw line against DePaul, setting season-highs in both makes and attempts. Butler is 9-2 this season when attempting more free throws than their opponents.
• Including a 7-for-15 performance against DePaul, the Bulldogs have hit 19 of their 41 combined three-point attempts over the last two games.
• Butler was +6 in rebounding margin against DePaul, and is now 7-0 this season when out-rebounding its opponent.
• Jayden Taylor is averaging 20.0 points per game over his last two games; he has made eight of his 11 attempts from three-point range over those two games. His 40 total points have come in less than 48 total minutes of play.
• Sunday's 80-51 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 Sunday's 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).
• It was the Bulldogs' best defensive performance against any opponent since limiting Louisiana-Monroe to 23.3-percent shooting Dec. 28, 2019.
• Taylor led the Bulldogs with a career-high 24 points at Georgetown, featuring a career-best six three-pointers.
• Taylor has averaged 17 points per game this season in Butler's seven games away from Hinkle Fieldhouse. 
• Butler's 12 three-pointers at Georgetown were the second-best output of the season for the Bulldogs.
• Among active coaches with at least 10 seasons of NCAA Division I experience, Thad Matta's .737 winning percentage ranks fourth (Few, Self, Calipari).
• Butler is 10-0 this season when leading at halftime.
• Butler is 10-0 this season when scoring 70 or more points.
• 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.
• Butler is committing only 12.6 fouls per game, which is second in the nation.
• Through five conference games, Butler has committed only 8.8 turnovers per game, which is the best mark in the BIG EAST.
• Manny Bates has 35 blocks already this season, moving him just two away from tenth on Butler's single-season list.
• Bates is 15th nationally with a 63.7 field goal percentage and is 23rd nationally in blocks per game at 2.2 per game.
• Bates, Taylor and Chuck Harris have each led the Bulldogs in scoring in at least four games so far this season (includes ties).
• Butler has placed all five starters in double figures three times this season, with the most recent coming at Cal Dec. 10.
• After missing the first 11 games of the season, the duo of Jalen Thomas (pulmonary embolism) and Ali Ali (nasal surgery/concussion symptoms) is contributing a combined 12.6 points per game over the five games they have played. 
• Harris is now 21st in Butler history in career three-pointers (119).
• Harris posted career-highs of 32 points and six three-pointers in the Dec. 3 win over Tennessee Tech.
• Bates led the Bulldogs with 22 points and 10 rebounds against Kansas State Nov. 30, his third double-double of the season.
• Bates is shooting 65 percent in BIG EAST play, good for fourth in the conference.
• Hunter Jr. posted the first double-double of his collegiate career in the Dec. 10 win at Cal; he scored 13 points to go along with a career-high 11 rebounds.