The Bulldogs continue a week on the road, traveling to Newark for a Saturday noon tip against Seton Hall. 
 
Butler Bulldogs (10-7, 1-5 BIG EAST)  at #25/rv Seton Hall (14-3, 4-2)
Saturday, Jan. 17 • 12PM
Prudential Center; Newark, N.J.
 
Follow Along
TV/Stream: TNT & truTV • Brian Anderson, Grant Hill & Andy Katz
Radio/Audio: 93.5 & 107.5FM The Fan, Butler Sports App, SiriusXM 386, Sirius XM App, TuneIn Radio App & ButlerSports.com • @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner
(@n_gardner)
 
Bulldog Banter Heading Into Your Weekend
• Butler enters the contest off an 89-75 road loss at Xavier Wednesday night, the Bulldogs' fourth consecutive defeat.
• Michael Ajayi led the Bulldogs with 22 points and 12 rebounds at Xavier.
• Ajayi ranks second nationally with 13 double-doubles this season; Wednesday marked the 32nd double-double of his collegiate career.
• Ajayi is second nationally in rebounding, averaging 12.1 boards per game. He has led Butler in rebounding in all 17 games this season and his single-game, season-low for rebounds is eight.
• Yame Butler got the start at Xavier in place of the ill Azavier Robinson. Butler scored a season-best 14 points, going 3-for-5 from behind the arc.
• Yohan Traore was 7-for-8 from the field at Xavier with all 14 of his points coming in the second half. The 14 points were his fourth-best total in a Butler uniform.
• Butler was on the wrong side of the rebounding battle at Xavier Wednesday night, but the Bulldogs have out-rebounded 14 of its 17 opponents this season. The Bulldogs rank 25th nationally at 40.9 rebounds per game and have a +6.9 rebounding margin (37th nationally).
• Butler ranks 24th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage according to KenPom, collecting 37.5 percent of their misses.
• Butler has out-rebounded their opponent by at least 10 in seven games this season (after having only six games of +10 or greater rebounding margin all of last season).
• Butler has shot at least 50 percent from the field in six games this season, most recently Jan. 6 against St. John's. 
• Over the last eight games, Butler is shooting 77.5 percent at the free throw line. The Bulldogs opened the season by shooting only 65.6 percent at the line over the first nine games, shooting 70 percent or better only twice in that stretch.
• On the season, the Bulldogs average 25.2 free throw attempts per game, a mark that is 33rd nationally.
• Finley Bizjack scored a game-high 21 points against St. John's Jan. 6, his best output since scoring 26 in the Dec. 13 win over Providence. Bizjack is fifth in the BIG EAST in scoring at 16.1 points per game and ranks fourth in the conference with 2.3 made three-pointers per game.
• Drayton Jones has made 19 consecutive free throws dating back to the Dec. 13 win against Providence. On the season, Jones is shooting 80 percent at the line.
• Evan Haywood has scored in double figures in six of the last eight games. Haywood's average of 2.1 made three-pointers per game is eighth in the BIG EAST. 
• In addition to leading the league in rebounding, Ajayi ranks third in the BIG EAST at 16.5 points per game. His is also among the conference Top 15 in field goal percentage (third), minutes played (fifth), blocked shots (ninth), and assists (12th).
• Including most recently at Creighton Dec. 30, Butler has scored 85 or more points in eight games this season; the Bulldogs average 83.5 points per game, which is 66th nationally.
• Thad Matta enters Saturday's game with 496 career wins as a head coach.
• Eight different Bulldogs have at least four double-figure scoring games this season.
 
The Story on Seton Hall
• Seton Hall, ranked No. 25 in this week's AP poll, is 14-3 overall and 4-2 in BIG EAST play.
• The Pirates' defense has been stout this season, ranking in the Top 25 nationally in scoring defense (63.1 points allowed per game), steals  (9.9 per game), blocks (5.9 per game), and field goal percentage defense (39.2 percent).
• Seton Hall is among the nation's bottom 10 in made three-pointers (5.2 per game) and went only 1-for-16 from behind the arc in Tuesday's loss to UConn.
• Seven Pirates average between 7-12 points per game. Adam "Budd" Clark is third in the BIG EAST at 4.8 assists per game; Stephon Payne III's 7.2 rebounds per game are fifth in the conference.
 
Previously with the Pirates
• All 26 meetings in the series have come since Butler joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season.
• Butler won both match-ups between the two teams during the 2024-25 campaign.
• The Bulldogs opened the series by winning seven of the first eight match-ups.
 
The Series: Seton Hall leads, 14-12
Streak: Butler, W2
In New Jersey: Seton Hall leads, 7-5
First Meeting: Jan. 29, 2014; Butler, 64-57 (at SHU)
Last Meeting: Feb. 5, 2025; Butler, 84-54 (at SHU)
 
Up Next
The Bulldogs return to Hinkle for a pair of home games next week, hosting DePaul Tuesday and Marquette Friday.