The Bulldogs continue an early-season homestand, welcoming SMU to Hinkle Fieldhouse for a Friday night tip. The Mustangs are in their first season as a member of the ACC.
 
THE SPECIFICS:
Butler (2-1) vs. SMU (3-0)
Friday, Nov. 15;  7PM
Hinkle Fieldhouse; Indianapolis, Ind.
 
FOLLOW ALONG:
TV: FS2 - Cory Provus & Shelvin Mack
Audio: Varsity Network App, SXM 385, SXM App 975, TuneIn
@MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
 
THE SERIES:
Butler Leads, 1-0
Streak: Butler, W1
At Hinkle: Butler Leads, 1-0
First Meeting: Butler, 42-37 (1939-40 Season)
 
TEXT TO SCROLL THROUGH AT YOUR LEISURE:
• Butler enters the game off an 85-65 win over Western Michigan Monday night. The Bulldogs out-scored WMU, 46-28, in the second half to pull away.
• Pierre Brooks II scored a game-high 20 points and handed out a career-best six assists against Western Michigan. It marked Brooks's first 20-point game of the season and the eighth of his career. Brooks made four his five attempts from three-point range.
• Augusto Cassia made the first start of his Butler career against Western Michigan and responded with career-highs of 16 points and three blocks. He went 8-for-10 from the free throw line.
• Finley Bizjack set a career-high with nine rebounds against Western Michigan; he added 10 points and was one shy of his career-best with five assists.
• Butler went 10-for-21 from three-point range against Western Michigan; the Bulldogs are shooting 39.4 percent from behind the arc on the season.
• The Bulldogs made 19 of their 24 free throw attempts against Western Michigan; Butler's 80.3-percent mark from the free throw line is 30th nationally this 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 shot 56 percent from the field against Western Michigan, which was a season-best. 
• After committed an uncharacteristic 35 turnovers through their first two games, Butler had only 11 miscues against Western Michigan. The Bulldogs averaged only 10.9 turnovers per game during the 2023-24 season.
• Butler has three players averaging 15 or more points per game at this point in the season: Patrick McCaffery (16.3), Brooks (15.3) and Jahmyl Telfort (15.3).
• McCaffery led the Bulldogs with 23 points in the Nov. 8 loss to Austin Peay; it was one shy of his career-high 24 points that came during his time at Iowa (against Wisconsin, Dec. 11, 2022).
• McCaffery went 5-for-8 from three-point range against Austin Peay, just one shy of his career-best six three-pointers against Nebraska March 5, 2023.
• McCaffery is fourth in the BIG EAST, averaging 3.3 made three-pointers per game.
• Telfort led Butler with 29 points in the Nov. 4 win over Missouri State to open the 2024-25 season.
• The 29 points were a Butler-high for Telfort (who scored a career-high 31 during his time at Northeastern); he set a career-high with 16 free throw attempts in the contest.
• The 29 points by Telfort were the most by a Butler player since Chuck Harris scored 32 against Tennessee Tech on Dec. 3, 2022.
• Harris returns to Hinkle as part of the SMU roster after spending three seasons with the Bulldogs (2020-23).
• This is the second meeting in the all-time series between Butler and SMU; the Bulldogs pulled out a 42-37 win at Hinkle during the 1939-40 season.
• Monday's win over Western Michigan was Thad Matta's 100th game as the head coach at Butler.
• Butler is the only team in the BIG EAST to return its top two scorers from a season ago (Brooks, Telfort).
• 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.
• Butler's balanced scoring attack in 2023-24 included eight games when five players reached 10+ points in the same game.
• Butler Bulldog great Shelvin Mack will be the FS2 analyst for Friday'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.