Butler (3-1) vs. #19/20 Florida Atlantic (2-1)
2023 ESPN Events Invitational; Orlando, Fla.
Thursday, Nov. 23;  2:30PM
 
TV: ESPN2 - Dave O'Brien & Cory Alexander
Radio: WXNT 1430AM, Varsity Network Radio App, SiriusXM 380 & SiriusXM App 970 - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
 
Butler travels to Orlando for the 2023 ESPN Events Invitational. The eight-team events begins on Thanksgiving Day and runs through Sunday. The ESPN family of networks will broadcast all of the games. The Bulldogs open play Thursday against No. 19/20 Florida Atlantic, a team that returns most of the nucleus from its Final Four team. Butler will face either No. 12/13 Texas A&M or Penn State Friday, and then play a final game Sunday against one of four teams: rv/rv Iowa State, VCU, Virginia Tech, and Boise State. 

SERIES: First Meeting with FAU.
 
• This is Butler's second appearance in the ESPN Events Invitational; the Bulldogs were part of the field in 2013 when the event was called the Old Spice Classic.
• Butler went 1-2 in the 2013 event, defeating Washington State before dropping contests to No. 5 Oklahoma State (69-67) and to LSU in overtime.
• Butler's opponents are shooting only 34.7 percent from the field, which places the Bulldogs 14th in the NCAA in field goal percentage defense (through the games of Nov. 19). Three of Butler's four opponents have been held to 32-percent shooting or less.
• Butler is 17th nationally, allowing only 58.0 points per game (through Nov. 19).
• Nine different Bulldogs have scored in double figures in at least one game so far at this early point of the season. Pierre Brooks II has scored in double figures in all four games to start the season.
• Through four games, Butler has 10 players averaging at least 10 minutes played per game and no Bulldog is averaging more than 28 minutes per game.
• Butler's starting five is a combined 48-for-58 from the free throw line to start the season (83 percent).
• Posh Alexander scored his 1,000th career point in his second game as a Bulldog Nov. 10 vs. SEMO; he swiped his 200th career steal Nov. 13 vs. ETSU.
• DJ Davis enters Thursday's game with 995 career points.
• Andre Screen is a perfect 9-for-9 from the field to start his Butler career.
• Connor Turnbull had six blocks Nov. 13 against ETSU, doubling his career-high. That total was one shy of the Butler single-game record.
• Turnbull ranks 22nd nationally at 2.50 blocks per game (through Nov. 19).
• Butler has had at least five players score in double figures in three of its four games to start the season; at least one player has come off the bench to score in double figures in each of those three games.
• Landon Moore matched his career-high with four made three-pointers against ETSU Nov. 13.
• Alexander ranks second in the BIG EAST (and among the Top 100 nationally) with his 2.25 steals per game (through Nov. 19).
• Davis ranks third in the BIG EAST (and among the Top 40 nationally) in free throw percentage (93.8), through the games of Nov. 19.
• Jalen Thomas is averaging a team-best 6.5 rebounds per game despite playing only 16.0 minutes per game.
• The Bulldogs forced ETSU into 19 turnovers and converted those into 36 points Nov. 13.
• No ETSU player reached double figures, the first time that Butler's defense has accomplished that since the Feb. 29, 2020 win over DePaul.
• Butler limited SEMO to 29-percent shooting in the Nov. 10 win; the Bulldogs last held an opponent under 30 percent Jan. 1, 2023 at Georgetown.
• The Bulldogs went to the line 34 times, making 26 against SEMO. That is more makes and attempts than Butler had in any game last season.
• The 60 second-half points by the Bulldogs against Eastern Michigan in the season opener were the most in a half by Butler dating back to a 63-point performance in the second half of a Jan. 16, 2017 game against Marquette.
• Entering the season, Thad Matta has won 453 games in his 18 seasons as a head coach, which averages out to 25.2 wins per season.
 
Butler vs. the ESPN Events Invitational Field
• Butler has yet to play Thursday's opponent Florida Atlantic nor Boise State in program history.
• Butler is 0-1 against Texas A&M; that game was played as part of the 2021 Maui Invitational (which was moved to Las Vegas due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
• Butler is 2-2 against Penn State with the most recent match-up coming just more than one year ago as part of the 2022 Gavitt Games. Penn State won that match-up on their home court. The teams first played in 1975 and then played a home-and-home series during the 1991-92 season. Butler Athletic Director was part of those three match-ups (as a player in 1975 and as Butler's coach in 1991-92).
• Butler is 1-0 against Iowa State, a win in 1987 as part of an event in Toledo.
• Butler is 1-0 vs. Virginia Tech; that overtime win came as part of the 2007 Great Alaska Shootout in Brad Stevens' first season as Butler's head coach.
• Butler is 2-1 against VCU with the most notable win coming in the 2011 Final Four. Butler also won a 1970 match-up, while the Rams won in 2013, which was the only season that both teams were members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. 
 
Summering in Canada
• Jahmyl Telfort played for Canada's U23 team in July as part of the GLOBL JAM event in Toronto, helping the Canadians to the silver medal in the four-team event. Telfort posted 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in the gold medal game, a loss to the University of Kentucky, which represented the United States in the event. In the four games, Telfort averaged 10 points per game.
• Telfort, a transfer from Northeastern, ranked fifth in the Colonial Athletic Association in scoring in 2022-23.
 
You Must Be New Here...
• Only two players on the 2023-24 roster played in games for Butler last season (Jalen Thomas and Connor Turnbull). John-Michael Mulloy was also on the Butler roster a season ago, but didn't play due to injury.
• Butler returns only 9% of scoring (191 of 2,088 points) and 9% of minutes played (563 of 6,400) from the 2022-23 season.
• The nine scholarship players on Butler's 2023-24 roster who bring collegiate experience have combined for 237 double-figure scoring games entering the season; only eight of those games have come in a Butler uniform (all by Thomas during the 2022-23 season).
• Five of Butler's incoming transfers averaged double figures during the 2022-23 season for their respective former teams.
 
On The Mend
• Butler has been without freshman Augusto Cassia for the early portion of the schedule.
• He sustained a strain to a muscle in his right leg in late October.
• Cassia has recently returned to practice.
 
What's On Deck...Schedule Notes
• Includes eight games against teams ranked in the Top 10 of the preseason AP and coaches polls
• Includes 14 games against teams ranked in the Top 25 or receiving votes in the preseason AP and coaches polls
• Includes at least 12 games against teams in ESPN's Way-Too-Early Top 25 (Oct. 9 edition)
• Includes at least 15 games against teams in Joe Lunardi's 2024 Bracketology (Oct. 10 edition)
• The ESPN Events Invitational field includes opening-round opponent Florida Atlantic in addition to Texas A&M, Penn State, Iowa State, Virginia Tech, VCU, and Boise State.
• According to KenPom, Butler played the nation's 19th-toughest schedule during the 2022-23 season. Twenty-three (23) of the team's 32 games came against teams ranked among the KenPom Top 100.
 
Welcome Back, Barlow
• Alex Barlow, most recently the head coach of the Boston Celtics' G-League affiliate in Maine, returns to Butler as an assistant coach.
• As a player, Barlow helped the Bulldogs to NCAA Tournament appearances in 2013 and 2015.
• Since graduating from Butler, Barlow's entire eight-year coaching career had been with the Boston Celtics organization in a variety of roles under his former Butler coach Brad Stevens.
• Barlow filled the staff vacancy that was created when Kevin Kuwik was named the head coach at Army.
 
In a message to the Butler University community Nov. 8, Butler Vice President and Director of Athletics Barry Collier announced his retirement, effective April 30, 2024.
• Collier has served at the helm of the Butler University athletic department since August of 2006. Collier currently serves on the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee (term: 2022-26).
• In celebration of his efforts, Collier was recognized with Under Armour AD of the Year honors in 2019, as announced by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).
• In July of 2013, Collier and Butler President James Danko oversaw the school's move to the BIG EAST Conference on the heels of back-to-back appearances in the NCAA national championship game in 2010 and 2011.
• Collier's first head coaching opportunity came at Butler in 1989. As Butler's coach, Collier led the Bulldogs for 11 years and to six postseason campaigns. In 1997, Collier mentored the Bulldogs to an NCAA Tournament appearance, the school's first in 35 years. That appearance was the first of three in a four-year span for Collier's Bulldogs.
 
Evan Haywood Signs with Butler
• He will suit up for the Bulldogs beginning with the 2024-25 season.
• Haywood, a 6-4 guard from Carmel, Ind., is beginning his senior season at Brebeuf Jesuit High School in Indianapolis. He has played on the summer circuit with both the Progeny 2024 and EG10 17U programs.
• As a junior at Brebeuf, Haywood averaged 14.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.8 steals while shooting 37 percent from three-point range. He earned both all-conference and All-Marion County honors following the season.