Butler opens BIG EAST play Wednesday night, traveling to No. 9 Milwaukee for a tip against Marquette. 
 
Butler (7-4, 0-0 BIG EAST) at #9/9 Marquette (9-2, 0-0)
Wednesday, Dec. 18 • 8PM CT
Fiserv Forum • Milwaukee, Wis.
 
TV: FS1 • Jeff Levering & LaPhonso Ellis
Audio: Varsity Network App, SiriusXM 390, XM App 980 & TuneIn • @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
 
The Series with the Golden Eagles
• The Bulldogs and Marquette first met in 1922, which is Butler's earliest match-up against any of the current BIG EAST opponents.
• Twenty-two of the 51 match-ups in the series have come since the Bulldogs joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season.
• The two teams met in the Round of 32 of the 2013 NCAA Tournament with Marquette pulling out a 74-72 victory.
• Butler won in Milwaukee a season ago (Jan. 10, 2024), knocking off the then-ranked No. 11/12 Golden Eagles, 69-62.
 
Series: Marquette Leads, 26-25
Streak: Marquette, W1
In Milwaukee: Marquette Leads, 16-11
First Meeting: Dec. 12, 1922; Marquette, 18-17 (at MU)
Last Meeting: Feb. 13, 2024; Marquette, 78-72 (at Hinkle)
 
• The Bulldogs enter the contest on a three-game losing streak, most recently falling to No. 20 Wisconsin, 83-74, Saturday in the Indy Classic at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
• The Bulldogs are in the midst of a five-game stretch that includes four Top 25 opponents (having played Houston and Wisconsin with Marquette and Connecticut upcoming).
• Pierre Brooks II averaged 24.5 points in Butler's two games last week; he matched his career-high with 26 points against North Dakota State Tuesday (making four three-pointers for the third time this season). He followed that with 23 points against Wisconsin Saturday.
• Brooks has five 20-point games through Butler's first 11 contests this season; he had seven such games during the entire 2023-24 season when he led the Bulldogs in scoring.
• Butler has committed only 10 total turnovers over the last two games. The Bulldogs entered last week ranked 302nd nationally in turnovers committed (14.0 per game); at the end of the week, Butler is now 195th in the NCAA as their rate has dropped to 12.4 miscues per game.
• The Bulldogs got to the free throw line a season-high 32 times in Saturday's loss to Wisconsin, but hit a season-worst 68.8 percent of those attempts. Butler ranks 14th nationally in free throws made per game (19.2) and 23rd nationally in attempts per game (25.4).
• Saturday was only the second time in Butler's last 51 games that the team shot less than 70 percent from the free throw line (joining Dec. 23, 2023 at Providence).
• Patrick McCaffery made three of his five attempts from behind the arc Saturday vs. Wisconsin; his 47.0-percent accuracy from three-point range is 25th nationally. He has hit multiple three-pointers in nine of the team's 11 games, including five twice.
• The Bulldogs rank 22nd nationally in three-point percentage, making 39.3 percent of their attempts on the season.
• Brooks set career-highs in both free throws made (7) and attempted (8) in Saturday's game vs. Wisconsin.
• Augusto Cassiá will be sidelined indefinitely with a ligament injury in his right knee, sustained in the team's game against NDSU Dec. 10. Surgery is not required and the injury is not season-ending.
• Jahmyl Telfort has scored 20 or more points in four of the last six games; he leads the BIG EAST in both free throws made (55) and attempted (68), while his 80.9-percent accuracy is sixth in the conference.
• Butler's Big 3 of Telfort, Brooks and McCaffery have scored 491 of the team's 806 points this season (60.9 percent of the team's output).
• Telfort, McCaffery, and Brooks rank 1-3-5 in the BIG EAST in minutes played per game.
• Beginning with the Arizona Tip-Off (the team's most recent six games), 6-2 guard Kolby King leads the team with an average of 6.3 rebounds per game.
• The Bulldogs used a 45-point second half to fully erase a 23-point second half deficit (taking a five-point lead) before falling in the final minutes to North Dakota State Dec. 10.
• Telfort's scoring average of 16.2 points per game is eighth in the BIG EAST.
• Andre Screen is seventh in the BIG EAST at 1.3 blocks per game, while his 6.0 rebounds per game rank 11th.
• The Bulldogs defeated Northwestern and No. 25 Mississippi State in taking the Arizona Tip-Off title over Thanksgiving.
 
More About Marquette
• Marquette is ranked No. 9 this week in both of the national polls.
• The Golden Eagles are 9-2 on the season, featuring wins over Wisconsin, Georgia, Purdue, and Maryland; the team's two losses have come in their last three games: at Iowa State and at Dayton.
• Kam Jones leads Marquette, averaging 20.1 points and 6.4 assists per game.
• Marquette forces a BIG EAST-best 16.3 turnovers per game (thanks in large part to 10.4 steals per game).