The Bulldogs officially open the 2024-25 season Monday night, hosting Missouri State at Hinkle Fieldhouse. For the fourth straight year, FOX Sports will provide blanket coverage of the action of the opening night of the season. The BIG EAST Opening Night Tip-Off will include live look-ins on FS1 of eight non-conference contests. Full game coverage for all eight games will be available on the FOX Sports App.

THE SPECIFICS:
Butler vs. Missouri State
Monday, Nov. 4; 6:45PM
Hinkle Fieldhouse; Indianapolis, Ind. 

FOLLOW ALONG: 
TV: FS1 & FOX Sports App - Jason Ross Jr. & Shelvin Mack
Audio: Varsity Network App, SXM App 983, TuneIn - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)

THE SERIES:
Series: Butler Leads, 3-1
Streak: Butler, W2
At Hinkle: Series Tied, 1-1
First Meeting: Butler, 59-58 (1973-74 Season Opener)
Last Meeting: Butler, 93-59; 11/19/15 (Puerto Rico Shootout)

TEXT TO SCROLL THROUGH AT YOUR LEISURE:
• The Bulldogs have won their home opener in 25 consecutive seasons; that dates back to 1998 when Missouri State (then referred to as Southwest Missouri State) won a 72-57 decision at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
• Butler is 77-3 in their last 80 home games against non-conference teams. 
• Thad Matta is 35-13 as Butler's head coach at Hinkle Fieldhouse (which includes the 2000-01 season and since his return in 2022). Matta is 19-2 at home against non-conference opponents as Butler's head coach. 
• Both Matta and Missouri State head coach Cuonzo Martin are in their second stint leading their respective programs; Martin also led Missouri State from 2008-11.
• Matta has averaged 24.8 wins per season in his 19 seasons as a head coach.   
• Butler Bulldog great Shelvin Mack will be the FS1 analyst for Monday's game; Mack will call three of Butler's first four games this season. In his three seasons at Butler, Mack scored 1,527 career points, leading the Bulldogs to the 2010 and 2011 Final Fours.
• Butler is the only team in the BIG EAST to return its top two scorers from a season ago (Pierre Brooks II, Jahmyl Telfort). 
• The Bulldogs' 2024-25 schedule includes seven games against teams ranked in the AP preseason Top 25 poll and an additional eight against teams receiving votes in the preseason poll. 
• Butler was picked to finish eighth by the conference's head coaches in the 2024-25 BIG EAST preseason poll. 
• Brooks and Telfort were selected to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team by the league's head coaches. 
• Butler won their only exhibition match-up by a score of 88-47 over Illinois Wesleyan Wednesday night. 
• The Bulldogs put five players in double figures and shot 54 percent from the field. The balanced effort saw nine Bulldogs play between 15 and 22 minutes.
• Butler unleashed a 33-2 run in the first half and forced 23 misses on 25 IWU attempts from the field during the latter portion of the first half. 
• Brooks led the Bulldogs with a scoring average of 14.8 points per game during the 2023-24 season; he ranks fifth among scorers returning to the BIG EAST this season. 
• Brooks scored in double figures in 29 of the Bulldogs' 33 games last season, including seven 20-point performances. 
• Brooks finished seventh in the BIG EAST last season in three-pointers made (2.42 per game) and 11th in field goal percentage (.456). 
• Telfort led the Bulldogs in scoring nine times and in rebounding eight times during the 2023-24 season.
• Finley Bizjack capped his first season at Butler by being named to the 2023-24 BIG EAST All-Freshman Team. 
• Bizjack and Boden Kapke represented the USA in the 2024 U23 Nations League Americas, an international 3x3 event in July in Mexico City.  Over the course of the event, the American men posted an impressive 11-3 record.
• Jamie Kaiser Jr. had a successful procedure performed Oct. 25 to address an impingement in his right ankle. He is out indefinitely. A more specific timeline for his return will be determined as he continues to be evaluated and rehabs over the coming weeks. Kaiser transferred to Butler after playing at Maryland last season.
• Butler ranked seventh nationally in free throw shooting at 79.1 percent during the 2023-24 season. Butler shot 70 percent or better from the line in all but one game. 
• Butler's balanced scoring attack in 2023-24 included eight games when five players reached 10+ points in the same game. 
• Butler had 13 games in 2023-24 scoring 80 points or more (including seven games of 90 or more).