Butler (1-0) vs. IU Indy (0-2)
Saturday, Nov. 8 • 5PM
Hinkle Fieldhouse • Indianapolis, Ind.

TV/Stream: ESPN+ • Paul Fritschner & Joey Brunk
Radio/Audio: 93.5 & 107.5FM The Fan, Sirius XM App, Butler Sports App & ButlerSports.com • @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)

The Series: Butler leads, 7-0
Streak: Butler, W7
At Hinkle: Butler leads, 7-0
First Meeting: Dec. 10, 1987; Butler won, 83-44
Last Meeting: Nov. 9, 2021; Butler won, 56-47

Pregame Reading
• The Bulldogs opened the 2025-26 regular season with an 88-58 win over Southern Indiana Wednesday night. 
• Including Butler's two exhibitions that have already been played, the tip against IU Indy is the fourth of four in-state opponents for the Bulldogs to open the season. 
• Butler opened Wednesday's game by scoring the first 17 points vs. USI.
• Michael Ajayi posted the 20th double-double of his career with 24 points and 12 rebounds against USI. He matched his career-high with five assists in his Butler debut. 
• Jamie Kaiser Jr. registered the first double-double of his career with 12 points and a career-best 10 rebounds vs. USI. 
• Ajayi and Kaiser are the first Butler duo to post double-doubles in the same game since Aaron Thompson and Bryce Nze accomplished the feat Feb. 9, 2021 against St. John's.
• Butler held a 56-35 (+21) rebounding margin over USI. The Bulldogs only had six games last season with a rebounding margin of +10 or better. 
• Jalen Jackson handed out six assists against USI, one shy of his career-high. 
• Yohan Traore scored 15 points (to go along with six rebounds) in his Butler debut. 
• Butler limited USI to 29-percent shooting Wednesday night; the Bulldogs last held an opponent to less than 30-percent shooting Nov. 22, 2024 (against Merrimack). 
• The Bulldogs have now won their home opener in 27 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 83-5 in their last 88 home games against non-conference teams. 
• Thad Matta is 25-4 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.
• Finley 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. 
• 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. 

Jawing About the Jaguars
Ben Howlett is in his first season as the head coach at IU Indy. He compiled a 217-37 record in eight seasons at the helm of the West Liberty program, helping the Hilltoppers collect eight straight Mountain East Conference (MEC) regular season titles and eight straight NCAA Tournament appearances. His 2024-25 team averaged 100.2 points per game.