Butler enters returns to Hinkle Fieldhouse for a Tuesday tip against Eastern Illinois, fresh off winning the 2024 Arizona Tip-Off. The Bulldogs defeated Northwestern and No. 25 Mississippi State in taking the tournament title. Jahmyl Telfort earned Tournament MVP honors, a two-game performance that also had him selected as the BIG EAST Player of the Week.
 
THE SPECIFICS:
Butler (6-1) vs. Eastern Illinois (2-5)
Tuesday, Dec. 3 • 6:30PM
Hinkle Fieldhouse • Indianapolis, Ind.
 
FOLLOW ALONG:
TV: FS2 • Jason Ross Jr. & Jordan Taylor
Audio: Varsity Network App, SiriusXM 381, XM App 971, & TuneIn • @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
 
TEXT TO SCROLL THROUGH AT YOUR LEISURE:
• Butler is 3-0 against power conference opponents so far this season (Mississippi State, Northwestern, SMU) with non-conference match-ups with Houston and Wisconsin remaining.
• The Arizona Tip-Off title was Butler's first in-season, multi-team event championship since the 2019 Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City.
• Jahmyl Telfort earned Tournament MVP honors at the Arizona Tip-Off, averaging 23.5 points per game in the team's two contests. Telfort scored 23 in the win over Northwestern and then followed that with 24 in the championship game win over Mississippi State.
• For his performance in Arizona, Telfort was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week. He is the first Bulldog to receive the weekly honor since Jayden Taylor Feb. 13, 2023.
• Telfort was extremely efficient in Arizona, making 56 percent of his shots, including a 6-for-10 performance from three-point range and making all 11 of his free throw attempts.
• Pierre Brooks II joined Telfort on the All-Tournament Team after registering 22 points and nine rebounds in the win over Mississippi State.
• In 40 games in a Butler uniform, Brooks has 10 games scoring 20 points or more, while Telfort has eight; Friday's win over Mississippi State was the first time that Brooks and Telfort each went for 20 points in the same game.
• As part of shooting 53 percent from the field against Mississippi State, Butler made 12 of 22 attempts from three-point range (54.5 percent).
• Led by Landon Moore's season-high 13 points, Butler had a 31-8 advantage in bench points against Mississippi State.
• Andre Screen registered 15 points in the semifinal win over Northwestern, his high in a Butler uniform (his career-high of 20 was set during his time at Bucknell).
• Screen tied for the team lead with nine rebounds vs. Mississippi State, his fourth consecutive game pulling down nine rebounds. He added four assists, which was also his high in a Butler uniform.
• Butler has made at least 17 free throws and has shot at least 70 percent from the free throw line in each game so far this season.
• Butler's field goal percentage defense is ranked 13th nationally as opponents have hit only 36.6 percent of their attempts from the field.
• While Butler is making it tough on opponents to make shots, those opponents are getting a shot almost every time down the floor as Butler is forcing only 7.9 turnovers per game; that is 353rd nationally. Butler's season turnover margin of -6.0 is 352nd nationally.
• Butler out-rebounded Mississippi State, 44-33, Friday night; it marked only the fourth time in 76 games that MSU lost the rebounding battle by double digits under head coach Chris Jans.
• Patrick McCaffery ranks 31st nationally in three-point percentage (47.5 percent). His 2.7 made three-pointers per game are just outside the Top 100 nationally. 
• Telfort, Brooks and McCaffery have combined for Butler's seven 20-point scoring outputs (in addition to a separate 19-point game from Telfort vs. SMU). The trio also ranks 1-3 in the BIG EAST in minutes played per game.
• Telfort's scoring average of 17.6 points per game is fifth in the BIG EAST.
 
A Quick Look at Eastern Illinois
• The Panthers are 2-5 on the season, but four of those losses have come on the road against Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern (in overtime), and DePaul.
• Nakyel Shelton leads the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring at 18.4 points per game; Kooper Jacobi nearly averages a double-double at 14.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.
• Marty Simmons enters his fourth season as the head coach at EIU; he has more than 300 wins as a head coach with 184 of those coming in his 11 seasons leading the Evansville program.
 
The Series with the Panthers
• Butler and Eastern Illinois last met Dec. 11, 2021, which was a 66-54 win by the Bulldogs at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The match-up prior to that was Thad Matta's first game as head coach at Butler (a 90-73 win Nov. 18, 2000 in Indianapolis). Overall, the teams have met seven times dating back to a debut contest Dec. 23, 1977.
 
Series:  EIU Leads, 4-3
Streak: Butler, W2
At Hinkle: Butler Leads, 3-1
First Meeting: Dec. 23, 1977; BU, 86-71, at Hinkle
Last Meeting: Dec. 11, 2021; BU, 66-54, at Hinkle
 
The Line of Demarcation
• The three-point line has been telling for Butler and its opponents this season.
• On the season, Butler is shooting 42.7 percent from behind the arc, which is sixth nationally.
• Conversely, Butler is holding opponents to just a 24.7-percent mark from three-point range, a defensive effort that is fifth nationally.
• Butler makes 9.1 three-pointers per game, while the opposition is averaging only 5.1 makes per game.
• That 12-point difference from three-point range per game matches up almost identically to Butler's +12.4 points per game scoring margin so far this season.
 
Head of the Snake
• Butler's defense has made life difficult on the opposing team's most electric offensive performer in each of the team's power conference wins.
• Mississippi State's Josh Hubbard was able to score 22 points in Butler's Nov. 29 win, but the Bulldogs held him to 3-for-11 shooting from three-point range.
• Northwestern's Nick Martinelli entered the Nov. 28 game averaging 23.8 points per game, which was fourth nationally; Butler's defense limited him to seven points on 3-for-15 shooting.
• SMU's Boopie Miller needed 19 attempts from the field to score 17 points in Butler's Nov. 15 win; he entered the contest averaging 20.7 points per game on better than 50-percent shooting.