Butler opens BIG EAST play Saturday, hosting Providence for an afternoon tip. The game is also the first BIG EAST conference game of the 2025-26 season; no other teams play a conference game until Tuesday.
 
Bulldogs (7-2) vs. Providence (7-4)
Saturday, Dec. 13 • 2PM
Hinkle Fieldhouse;  Indianapolis, Ind.
 
TV/Stream: TNT & truTV • Spero Dedes, Robbie Hummel & Lauren Jbara
Radio/Audio: 93.5 & 107.5FM, SiriusXM 388, Sirius XM App, Butler Sports App & ButlerSports.com • @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
 
Late-Night Reading Material if the Thought of PC Mascot Friar Dom Keeps You Awake
• The Bulldogs won two of the three match-ups against Providence last season with each team winning on their home court and Butler taking a BIG EAST Tournament first round game against the Friars.
• Following Saturday's tip against Providence, the Bulldogs will travel to UConn Tuesday. Butler has two non-conference games remaining: vs. Northwestern Dec. 20 and vs. NJIT Dec. 22.
• Butler enters Saturday's game off a 77-68 loss to Boise State one week ago.
• Michael Ajayi led the Bulldogs with 16 points and eight rebounds; he has double-doubles in seven of the team's nine games and has pulled down at least eight rebounds in every game so far this season.
• Ajayi is third nationally, averaging 11.6 rebounds per game.
• Boise State was the first Butler opponent to out-rebound the Bulldogs in a game this season.
• The team's rebounding margin of +10.0 per game ranks 25th nationally.
• The Bulldogs only had six games last season with a rebounding margin of +10 or better but have accomplished the feat in six of nine games so far this season.
• Butler ranks 13th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage according to KenPom, tracking down 40.2 percent of their own misses. 
• The Bulldogs average 87.6 points per game this season, which is 41st nationally.
• On the season, Butler is hitting 39.4 percent of their long-range attempts, which is 21st nationally.
• The Bulldogs have shot 40 percent or better from three-point range in six of the team's nine games, highlighted by a season-best 55 percent (11-for-20) in the Dec. 2 win over Eastern Michigan.
• Finley Bizjack scored 29 points in the Dec. 2 win over Eastern Michigan. The output was one point shy of his career-high.
• Bizjack went 6-for-10 from three-point range against Eastern Michigan, with the six three-pointers matching his career-high.
• Bizjack is second in the BIG EAST in scoring (18.0 points per game; 86th nationally) and third in the BIG EAST in three-point percentage (41.9 percent; 72nd nationally).
• Butler shot 52 percent from the field Dec. 2 against Eastern Michigan, the team's fourth game this season making at least half their attempts. On the season, the Bulldogs are shooting 49.6 percent from the field. That is tops in the BIG EAST and 43rd nationally.
• On the season, Butler is averaging 27.8 free throw attempts per game, which is 17th in the country.
• Ajayi began the season with six consecutive double-doubles. The last Bulldog to have five or more consecutive double-doubles was Gordon Hayward (with five between Feb. 11-March 6, 2010).
• The Bulldogs picked up wins over South Carolina and Virginia to win the 2025 Greenbrier Tip-Off.
• Ajayi earned both BIG EAST Player of the Week and USBWA Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week honors Nov. 24 after averaging 16.0 points, 14.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game in Butler's two wins at the Greenbrier.
• Efeosa Oliogu-Elabor made his Butler regular season debut Dec. 2 against Eastern Michigan after injuring his ankle in the Oct. 29 exhibition against Notre Dame.
• Butler scored 65 second-half points in the Nov. 28 win over Wright State (94-69). The Raiders held a 32-29 halftime lead, Butler's first time trailing after 20 minutes this season. The 65 points were Butler's largest output in a half since scoring 71 and 73 in the Nov. 14, 2015 win over The Citadel (144-71).
• Butler received votes in both the Dec. 1 and Nov. 24 national coaches polls, the first votes for the Bulldogs this season.
• Butler's defense has guarded the arc well this season; only two of the Bulldogs' nine opponents have shot better than 32 percent from three-point range.
• Butler is averaging 16.0 fast-break points per game, which is 42nd nationally.
• Yohan Traore scored a season-best 16 points on 6-for-6 shooting from the field in the Nov. 28 win over Wright State. Traore and fellow Butler center Drayton Jones combined for 24 points, making all 10 of their attempts from the field.
• In addition to Ajayi's 14 rebounds in the Nov. 23 win against Virginia (which tied his season-high), Jamie Kaiser Jr. matched his career-high with 10 rebounds and Jones set a season-high with nine boards.
• Six different Bulldogs have at least two double-figure scoring games for Butler through seven contests; that includes both Traore and Robinson off the Butler bench. Evan Haywood has one double-figure scoring performance this season, which also came off the bench.
• In Butler's two wins at the Greenbrier Tip-Off, Kaiser registered more steals (seven over two games) than misses (four over two games - combined 6-for-8 from the field and 6-for-8 from the free throw line).
 
Fun Facts on the Friars
• Providence is averaging 90.0 points per game, which is 18th nationally.
• Jason Edwards is tied with Finley Bizjack for second in the BIG EAST, scoring 18.0 points per game. Edwards is one of six Friars averaging 9.0 or more points per game.
• Oswin Erhunmwunse ranks second nationally at 3.36 blocks per game.
 
The Past with Providence
• All 28 match-ups between Butler and PC have come since the 2013-14 season when the Bulldogs joined the BIG EAST.
 
The Series: PC leads, 20-8
Streak: Butler, W2
At Hinkle: PC leads, 7-5
First Meeting: Jan. 21, 2014; PC, 65-56 (at PC)
Last Meeting: March 12, 2025; Butler, 75-69 (BIG EAST Tournament; MSG)
 
Up Next
The Bulldogs continue BIG EAST play Tuesday, heading on the road for a game at UConn in Hartford, Conn.