The Bulldogs continue a weeklong Midwest tour of BIG EAST foes, traveling to Chicago for a Saturday night tip at DePaul. Butler won the first match-up between the two teams Jan. 25 in Indianapolis by a score of 86-69.
 
Butler (12-14, 5-10 BIG EAST) at DePaul (11-16, 2-14)
Saturday, Feb. 22 • 8PM ET / 7PM CT
Wintrust Arena • Chicago, Ill.
 
TV: FS1 • Noah Reed & Shelvin Mack
Butler Basketball Live (Audio) with @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner): Varsity Network App, SiriusXM 386, XM App 976 & TuneIn
 
• Butler enters the game off a 76-63 road loss at Xavier Tuesday night; the defeat halted a three-game winning streak for the Bulldogs.
• Jahmyl Telfort led the Bulldogs with 20 points at Xavier; it marked his tenth 20-point game of the season and the 12th time he has led the team in scoring this season. Telfort made eight of his 11 attempts from the field.
• Boden Kapke pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds in the game at Xavier; it was the second game of his Butler career with double-digit rebounds.
• Kapke led Butler to a 38-33 rebounding advantage over Xavier. The Bulldogs have only been out-rebounded once in the team's last nine games (Butler has six games in that stretch with a rebounding advantage and there are two games where the teams have tied on the glass).
• Butler was done in by 20 turnovers Tuesday at Xavier; it was one shy of the team's season-worst 21 turnovers in the Jan. 4 loss at St. John's. Xavier turned those turnovers into 21 points Tuesday night.
• Finley Bizjack scored 14 points at Xavier, his seventh double-figure scoring outing in the team's last eight games; Bizjack is shooting 23-for-43 (53 percent) from three-point range over those eight games; he is averaging 14.4 points per game during that stretch.
• Tuesday's game at Xavier was the first game this season that Patrick McCaffery did not connect on a three-pointer; it broke a streak of 31 consecutive games with a made three-pointer (dating back to last season playing for Iowa). McCaffery has hit multiple three-pointers in 17 of the team's 26 games this season.
• Butler is committing only 14.0 fouls per game, which is the 17th-fewest nationally.
• Butler is allowing opponents to shoot only 30.7 percent from three-point range, a defensive effort that is second in the BIG EAST and 40th nationally. 
• Butler posted a 97-86 win over Georgetown Saturday; the 97 points were a season-high. Butler is 8-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points, including all five of their BIG EAST wins. The Bulldogs have also shot at least 50 percent from the field in each of those five BIG EAST wins. 
• Pierre Brooks II led the Bulldogs with a career-high 30 points against Georgetown Saturday; he went 10-for-13 from the field and made all eight of his free throws. The 24th point of the day for Brooks was the 1,000th of his career.
• Butler went 28-for-35 (80 percent) from the free throw line against Georgetown; the 28 makes were the most by Butler in exactly eight years (when the team made 29 in a Feb. 15, 2017 win over St. John's). Butler's season average of 16.5 made free throws per game is 38th nationally.
• The Bulldogs shot 57.7 percent from the field against Georgetown, the team's second-best performance this season.
• Butler has led at the half in 10 of the team's 15 BIG EAST games (and was tied in one of the other five games).
• 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.
• The Bulldogs defeated Northwestern and No. 25 Mississippi State in taking the Arizona Tip-Off title over Thanksgiving.
 
BIG in the BIG EAST
• In BIG EAST games only, Butler offensively ranks second in points scored (74.9 points per game) and second in field goal percentage (making 47.2 percent of attempts from the field).
• On the defensive end, Butler's three-point percentage defense in BIG EAST games only is second in the conference as Bulldog opponents are hitting only 31.1 percent of their attempts from behind the arc.
 
Connection Points
• DePaul head coach Chris Holtmann (2014-17) and assistant coach LaVall Jordan (2017-22) both previously served as the head coach at Butler.
• Jordan is a 2001 graduate of Butler, where he led the Bulldogs to three NCAA Tournament appearances and one NIT berth in his four-year playing career. He was a two-time All-Midwestern Collegiate Conference performer and was the league's tournament MVP in his senior season; Thad Matta was the head coach at Butler during Jordan's 2000-01 senior season.
 
First Time Around
• Pierre Brooks II led Butler to an 86-69 win over DePaul Jan. 25 at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
• Brooks posted 29 points and 13 rebounds; he went 10-for-20 from the field.
• After DePaul cut the lead to four (66-62), the Bulldogs outscored the Blue Demons, 20-7, over the final 7:13 of the game.
• Butler went 10-for-24 from three-point range; DePaul, which entered the game averaging more than 10 made three-pointers per game, was limited to 5-for-21 shooting.
• Butler went 16-for-17 from the free throw line, while DePaul managed to make only four of their nine attempts.
 
Dishing on DePaul
• DePaul is 11-16 on the season, including a 2-14 mark in conference play.
• CJ Gunn (12.3 points per game) and Jacob Meyer (10.7) lead the Blue Demons in scoring.
• Nearly half (47.3 percent) of DePaul's field goal attempts come from three-point range.
 
The Series with the Blue Demons
• The series between the Bulldogs and DePaul dates back to 1939.
• Butler has won 10 straight match-ups with DePaul, and 21 of the last 22 in the series.
 
Series: Butler Leads, 22-7
Streak: Butler, W10
In Chicago: Butler Leads, 11-4
First Meeting: 1939; Butler, 39-29 (at DePaul)
Last Meeting: Jan. 25, 2025; Butler, 86-69 (at BU)