The Bulldogs host Georgetown Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Saturday's game will be Butler's annual Project 44 game, which raises awareness for the bone marrow registry in honor of late Butler great Andrew Smith. Butler Bulldog great Shelvin Mack will be the FS1 analyst for Saturday's game. In his three seasons at Butler, Mack scored 1,527 career points, leading the Bulldogs to the 2010 and 2011 Final Fours. Neither Butler nor Georgetown played a midweek game. The teams met Jan. 31 in the nation's capital with Georgetown taking a 73-70 win.
 
Butler (11-13, 4-9 BIG EAST) vs. Georgetown (15-9, 6-7)
Saturday, Feb. 15 • 2PM
Hinkle Fieldhouse • Indianapolis, Ind.
 
TV: FS1 • Cooper Boardman & Shelvin Mack
Audio: Varsity Network App, SiriusXM 384, XM App 974 & TuneIn • @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
 
• Butler enters the game off an 82-81 win over Providence.
• Butler is a combined 22-for-43 (51 percent) from three-point range over the team's last two games; those are two of the Bulldogs' six games this season making 10 or more three-pointers. On the season, Butler is 31st nationally, shooting 37.5 percent from behind the arc.
• Jahmyl Telfort led Butler with 24 points and a career-high four steals in Saturday's win over Providence; he has scored at least 24 points in three of the team's last six games.
• Butler has scored 80 or more points in all four of its BIG EAST wins this season and is 7-0 overall when hitting 80 points.
• Butler has led at the half in nine of the team's 13 BIG EAST games (and was tied in one of the other four games).
• The Bulldogs out-rebounded Providence, 34-24, in the team's last outing. Over the last seven games, Butler has out-rebounded its opponent five times (and the teams were even on the boards in the other two games.)
• Butler withstood 16 made three-pointers by Providence in Saturday's win, the most made three-pointers by a Butler opponent since Marquette also hit 16 on Jan. 24, 2020. Since 2003, there have only been seven games when Butler's opponent made 14 or more three-pointers; Butler is 5-2 in those games.
• Butler is committing only 14.0 fouls per game, which is the 15th-fewest nationally.
• The Bulldogs have shot a combined 49 percent over the team's last seven games, including shooting 50 percent or better in four of those games -- all wins.
• Butler defeated Seton Hall, 84-54, Feb. 5. The 30-point win is Butler's third-largest margin of victory in a BIG EAST game since joining the conference prior to the 2013-14 season. (Butler holds 33-point wins over DePaul in 2014 and St. John's in 2016 -- both were also on the road.)
• Six Bulldogs scored in double figures against Seton Hall; Butler also had six players in double figures in the Nov. 15 win over SMU.
• The Bulldogs shot a season-high 58 percent from the field against Seton Hall; it was Butler's best shooting performance since Nov. 17, 2022 vs. St. Francis (Pa.) when the Bulldogs made 70.4 percent of their attempts.
• Boden Kapke recorded his first career double-double in the win over Seton Hall, pulling down a career-best 11 rebounds while matching his career-high with 13 points. Kapke became the fifth Bulldog to post at least one double-double this season.
• Finley Bizjack is shooting 18-for-32 (56 percent) from three-point range over the last six games; he is averaging 14.3 points per game during that stretch.
• Patrick McCaffery has hit at least one three-pointer in 30 consecutive games (which includes all 24 games this season and the final six games of Iowa's 2023-24 season). He has 17 games this season with multiple made three-pointers.
• The Bulldogs defeated Northwestern and No. 25 Mississippi State in taking the Arizona Tip-Off title over Thanksgiving.
 
Andrew Smith and Project 44
• Launched in 2016, Project 44 was created in honor of the late Andrew Smith. Wearing No. 44, Andrew was a beloved, standout member of Butler's two-time NCAA Men's Basketball national championship game teams. On Jan. 12, 2016, at the age of 25, Andrew passed away following a two-year battle with cancer.
• Having been a personal recipient of a bone marrow transplant in November of 2015, Andrew and his wife Samantha were blessed with an additional three months together to make and share memories that would last well beyond Andrew's final days on earth.
• Project 44's mission is to create awareness for the national bone marrow registry.
 
First Time Around
• A 15-0 second half run -- turning a 44-40 Butler lead with 17:53 to play into a Hoyas 55-44 advantage with 13:22 remaining -- proved to be the difference as Georgetown came away with a 73-70 win over Butler Jan. 31 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
• Micah Peavy and Thomas Sorber each scored 19 points to lead the Hoyas.
• Finley Bizjack led Butler with 17 points and five assists. Andre Screen made eight of his 11 attempts from the field in posting 16 points.
• Butler had 13 turnovers, compared to just six for the Hoyas. Georgetown turned those Butler turnovers into 17 points.
• Of Georgetown's 73 points, 52 came in the paint.
 
About the Hoyas
• Georgetown is 15-9 on the year, including 6-7 in BIG EAST play.
• Like Butler, Georgetown also enters the game with the Bulldogs off a conference mini-bye as neither team has a midweek game.
• Micah Peavy leads Georgetown in scoring at 15.2 points per game; his 2.33 steals per game are Top 20 nationally. Freshman Thomas Sorber averages 14.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.13 blocks per game; both his rebounding and blocks averages are among the Top 40 nationally.
• The Hoyas rely on a defense that allows just 64.9 points per game and 40.3-percent shooting by its opponents; both marks are among the Top 35 nationally.
 
The Series with the Hoyas
• Twenty-three of the 25 match-ups between the two teams have come as BIG EAST opponents once the Bulldogs joined the conference prior to the 2013-14 season.
• The teams first met in the 2009 Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden and also played at the 2014 Battle 4 Atlantis, as both teams had agreed to be part of the event before Butler joined the BIG EAST.
• Each team has found success on the road as Butler is 8-4 in the nation's capital, while Georgetown is 7-4 at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
Series:  Butler Leads, 13-12
Streak: Georgetown, W1
At Hinkle: Georgetown Leads, 7-4
First Meeting: Dec. 8, 2009; Georgetown, 72-65 (Jimmy V; MSG)
Last Meeting: Jan. 31, 2025; Georgetown, 73-70 (at GU)