The Bulldogs continue their early-season homestand Friday night, welcoming Austin Peay to Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler enters the contest following a 72-65 win over Missouri State in the 2024-25 regular season opener Monday night. Butler's first five regular season games will be contested at Hinkle. 

THE SPECIFICS:
Butler (1-0) vs. Austin Peay (1-0)
Friday, Nov. 8; 6:30PM
Hinkle Fieldhouse; Indianapolis, Ind. 

FOLLOW ALONG: 
TV: FS2 - Cooper Boardman & Shelvin Mack
Audio: Varsity Network App, SXM 382, SXM App 972, TuneIn - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)

THE SERIES:
Series:  Tied, 1-1
Streak: Austin Peay, W1
At Hinkle: Austin Peay Leads, 1-0
First Meeting: Butler, 85-81 (1/3/89)
Last Meeting: Austin Peay, 63-60 (1/9/89)

TEXT TO SCROLL THROUGH AT YOUR LEISURE:
• Jahmyl Telfort led Butler with 29 points in the team's Monday 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.
• Butler went 21-for-28 from the free throw line against Missouri State. In addition to Telfort's career-high 16 attempts, Pierre Brooks also attempted a career-best seven free throws in the game. 
• 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.
• Augusto Cassia scored a career-high nine points in Monday's win over Missouri State; it matched his entire scoring output from his freshman season in 2023-24. 
• Butler committed an uncharacteristic 19 turnovers in the win over Missouri State. The Bulldogs averaged only 10.9 turnovers per game during the 2023-24 season.
• Finley Bizjack, who started the team's exhibition against Illinois Wesleyan, missed the opener against Missouri State with an ankle injury. Landon Moore got the start against Missouri State.
• Butler and Austin Peay have played twice previously, which occurred within the span of one week in January of 1989; each team won on the road. Thad Matta played on that 1988-89 Butler team.
• The Bulldogs have now won their home opener in 26 consecutive seasons.
• Butler is 78-3 in their last 81 home games against non-conference teams. 
• Thad Matta is 36-13 as Butler's head coach at Hinkle Fieldhouse (which includes the 2000-01 season and since his return in 2022). Matta is 20-2 at home against non-conference opponents as Butler's head coach. 
• Matta has averaged 24.8 wins per season in his 19 seasons as a head coach.   
• 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.
• Butler is the only team in the BIG EAST to return its top two scorers from a season ago (Brooks, 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. 
• 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.
• 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.