First Things First
• Butler begins a two-game stretch on the road, traveling to Villanova Tuesday night.
• KenPom ranks Butler's schedule so far this season as the nation's tenth-toughest slate.
• Butler's Saturday loss to Creighton concluded a five-game stretch for Butler that included four Top 25 opponents.
 
Butler (16-10, 7-8 BIG EAST) at Villanova (14-11, 7-7)
Tuesday, Feb. 20;  6:30PM
Finneran Pavilion; Philadelphia, Pa.
  
TV: FS1 - Tim Brando & Donny Marshall
Radio: WXNT 1430AM, Varsity Network Radio App, SiriusXM 380, SXM App 970 - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
 
The Month of Opportunity
• Butler's February schedule includes eight games, all against teams ranked No. 63 or better in the NCAA NET metric (as of Monday, Feb. 19). Four of those games, including the win at Creighton Feb. 2, are on the road. Life in the BIG EAST...
 
First Time Around
• In a game when Butler's first lead of the game didn't come until the 41st minute of play, the Bulldogs took an 88-81 double-overtime win over Villanova Jan. 27 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
• DJ Davis matched his career-high with 28 points (all coming after halftime) and Jahmyl Telfort recorded his first career double-double with 22 points and a career-best 11 rebounds.
• Butler missed its first 10 attempts from the field as Villanova built an early 11-0 lead over nearly the first seven minutes of the game.
• The 64-64 score at the end of regulation was the first tie of the game.
• Butler scored 40 points over the first 31:30 of the game before totaling 48 points over the final 18:30 of the contest.
• Butler made seven of 12 attempts from the field and all 10 of its free throws in the overtime sessions.
• Butler had a 43-33 rebounding advantage and committed only 10 turnovers in the 50 minutes of play.
 
The Series with Nova
• The Bulldogs and Villanova first met in the 1996 Puerto Rico Shootout, the only match-up prior to Butler joining the BIG EAST beginning with the 2013-14 season.
• Six of Butler's seven wins in the series have come at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
• Villanova has been ranked in the Top 10 of the AP poll, including No. 1 twice, in four of Butler's six wins at home in the series.
• Villanova was ranked No. 2 nationally in 2017 when Butler picked up its only win in Philadelphia; the Wildcats have won nine of the 10 match-ups in Philly.
 
Series:  Villanova Leads, 16-7
Streak: Butler, W1
At VU: Villanova Leads, 9-1
First Meeting: Nova, 62-54; 11/30/96  (Puerto Rico Shootout)
Last Meeting: BU, 88-81 (2OT); 1/27/24 (at Hinkle)
 
Of Note
• Butler made all three of its free throw attempts Saturday vs. Creighton. On the season, Butler ranks fifth nationally in free throw shooting at 79.1 percent. Butler has shot 70 percent or better from the line in all but one game.
• Butler's three free throw attempts Saturday were the fewest by the Bulldogs in a contest since attempting only two against Indiana, Dec. 15, 2018 in the Crossroads Classic.
• DJ Davis made his only free throw attempt Saturday, raising his season mark to 96.5 percent, which is No. 1 nationally.
• Butler has shot 40 percent (identical 24-for-60 outputs) in each of the team's last two games. On the season, Butler shoots 46 percent from the field and has nine games shooting 50 percent or better. Butler is 8-1 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field and a perfect 14-0 when shooting a better percentage than their opponent.
• Butler held a 35-34 halftime lead over Creighton before eventually losing. It was just the second game this season that Butler had lost when leading at the break (now 12-2).
• Conversely, one of Butler's four wins when trailing at the half came against Villanova Jan. 27 as the Bulldogs overcame a 36-27 halftime deficit to win, 88-81, in double overtime.
• Jalen Thomas led the Bulldogs with 18 points in Saturday's loss to Creighton; it matched a season-high for Thomas and was the third time in his 47 games as a Bulldog that he led the team in scoring.
• Butler committed 11 turnovers Saturday against Creighton, just above the team's season average of 10.6. Butler has 13 games this season with 10 or fewer turnovers, and the Bulldogs are 11-4 this season when committing fewer turnovers than their opponent.
• Freshman Finley Bizjack led Butler with a career-high 19 points in Tuesday's loss to Marquette; 16 of his total came after halftime. He set new or matched his career-highs in field goals (five), three-pointers (three) and free throws (six).
• Butler is 13-1 on the season when out-rebounding its opponent. The Bulldogs held a 43-33 rebounding edge in the Jan. 27 game against Villanova. 
• The Bulldogs' 57 points scored against Creighton were Butler's second-lowest output of the season. The Butler offense has averaged 79.3 points per game this season. Butler has 12 games this season scoring 80 points or more (including seven games of 90 or more).
• Showcasing the season-long prowess of the Bulldog offense, Butler has allowed 90 points in four games this season...and has won three of those games.
• The Bulldogs commit just 13.5 fouls per game, which ranks seventh nationally.
• Posh Alexander leads the BIG EAST and is 20th nationally at 2.24 steals per game.
• Alexander is fourth in the conference and 45th nationally with 5.1 assists per game.
• Pierre Brooks II is 12th in the BIG EAST in scoring at 15.3 points per game. He is fifth in the BIG EAST in three-pointers made per game (2.42).
• Thomas ranks ninth in the BIG EAST in blocks (1.15 per game) and 14th in rebounding (6.3 per game).
• Jahmyl Telfort is fourth in the BIG EAST in minutes per game (34:40).
 
Home, Sweet Hinkle
• Butler is 11-4 at Hinkle Fieldhouse so far this season.
• Thad Matta is 34-11 at Hinkle Fieldhouse as the head coach at Butler (2000-01 and his current stint that began prior to the 2022-23 season).
• Butler has scored at least 80 points in eight of its home games this season (going over the 90-point mark five times).
• Butler is 77-2 over its last 79 non-conference home games, winning 15 straight.
 
Balancing Act
• Four different Bulldogs (Brooks, Alexander, Davis, Telfort) have multiple 20-point scoring performances this season.
• Butler has had multiple players post 20 or more in the same game four times this season.
• Ten different Bulldogs have scored in double figures in at least one game so far this season.
• Butler's balanced attack has seen at least five players score in double figures in the same game seven times this season, including most recently in the Jan. 23 win at Georgetown.
 
Working Overtime
• Butler is 3-1 in overtime games this season, which includes a single-overtime win over Texas Tech Nov. 30 and double-overtime wins over Cal Dec. 9 and Villanova Jan. 27.
• Butler scored on every possession during the overtime period in the Bulldogs' 103-95 win over Texas Tech Nov. 30. Butler went 4-of-6 from the field, but collected offensive rebounds on both misses and scored. The team went 10-for-10 from the free throw line and did not commit a turnover.