The Bulldogs open the 2025-26 regular season Wednesday, hosting Southern Indiana at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Including Butler's two exhibitions that have already been played, the tip against USI is the third of four in-state opponents for the Bulldogs to open the season.
 
Butler vs. Southern Indiana
Wednesday, Nov. 5 • 7PM
Hinkle Fieldhouse • Indianapolis, Ind.
 
TV/Stream: ESPN+ • Anthony Mazzini & Joey Brunk
Radio/Audio: Fuego 92.7FM, SiriusXM 380, Sirius XM App, Butler Sports App & ButlerSports.com • @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
 
The Series: Butler leads, 3-0
Streak: Butler, W3
At Hinkle: Butler leads, 3-0
First Meeting: Dec. 4, 1982; Butler won, 87-59
Last Meeting: Dec. 8, 1984; Butler won, 87-74
 
Pregame Knowledge
• The Bulldogs shot 50 percent from the field (including 11-for-24 from three-point range) in the 105-80 exhibition win over Indiana State Oct. 29.
• Butler dropped a 77-76 exhibition decision to Notre Dame Oct. 17; neither team had a player see more than 21 minutes of action.
• Finley Bizjack scored 40 points in a total of 48 minutes over the team's two exhibitions. He made eight of his 12 three-point attempts.
• Eight different Bulldogs registered double figures in scoring in at least one of the team's two exhibitions.
• The Bulldogs have won their home opener in 26 consecutive seasons; that dates back to 1998 when Missouri State (then referred to as Southwest Missouri State) won a 72-57 decision at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
• Butler is 82-5 in their last 87 home games against non-conference teams.
• Thad Matta is 24-4 at Hinkle Fieldhouse against non-conference opponents as Butler's head coach (which includes the 2000-01 season and since his return in 2022).
• Butler's roster includes 11 newcomers in addition to Jamie Kaiser Jr., who missed all of last season due to an ankle injury.
• Bizjack, a junior, returns for the Bulldogs after starting 30 games a season ago; sophomore Evan Haywood is the only other returner to have started during the 2024-25 season (the final two games of the season).
• Butler returns only 15.3 percent of its scoring from a season ago (400 of their 2,616 points during the 2024-25 season). Bizjack accounts for 350 of those 400 returning points.
• Bizjack scored a career-best 30 points in Butler's season finale, a loss to Boise State in the quarterfinals of the inaugural College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas. Bizjack went a career-high 6-for-9 from three-point range in that game.
• Bizjack joins newcomers Jalen Jackson, Michael Ajayi, Drayton Jones, and Yame Butler as players on this season's Butler roster who have each scored 30 or more points in at least one game of their respective collegiate careers.
• Four of Butler's newcomers have earned all-conference first team honors at a previous institution: Jackson (Purdue Fort Wayne; 2024-25 Horizon League), Ajayi (Pepperdine; 2023-24 West Coast Conference), Jones (South Carolina State; 2024-25 MEAC), and Yohan Traore (UC Santa Barbara; 2023-24 Big West).
• Thirty-one (31) BIG EAST players averaged double figures in scoring last season; Bizjack is one of only seven who return for the 2025-26 season -- Zuby Ejiofor (SJU), Solo Ball and Alex Karaban (UConn), Malik Mack (Georgetown), CJ Gunn (DePaul), and Chase Ross (Marquette).
• Matta has averaged 24.3 wins per season and has won 70.1 percent of his games as a head coach in his 20 seasons on the bench.
• Butler's five-member freshman class -- Jackson Keith, Efeosa Oliogu-Elabor, Jack McCaffery, Azavier "Stink" Robinson, and Bryson Cardinal -- was ranked No. 25 nationally by ESPN. Both McCaffery and Robinson were included among ESPN's Top 100 prospects in the class.
• Butler committed an average of only 13.6 fouls per game last season, the 13th-fewest total among teams nationally.
• A point of emphasis this season will be forcing more turnovers as Butler opponents turned the ball over only 7.74 times per game on average last season, a mark that was 354th nationally.
 
Talking About the Screaming Eagles
• USI is predicted to place ninth in the Ohio Valley Conference, as voted by the league's 11 head coaches and athletic communications directors.
• The Eagles are entering their fourth season as an NCAA Division I program and will be NCAA Tournament eligible this season. USI was 10-20 overall in 2024-25, 5-15 in the OVC.
• New Screaming Eagles – senior guard Trey Thomas and senior guard Ismail Habib – were named OVC Players to watch for this season.
 
Familiar Face on the Call
Joey Brunk, who graduated from Butler in 2019 before finishing his playing career at Ohio State and Indiana, will be the ESPN+ analyst for Wednesday's game. Brunk played in all 33 games during his final season at Butler (2018-19), shooting .617 from the field and averaging 7.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.