(BUTLER RELEASE)
GAME 14: Butler (5-8, 4-6 BIG EAST) vs. rv/rv Xavier (10-2, 3-2 BIG EAST)
Saturday, Jan. 30; 5:30PM
Hinkle Fieldhouse; Indianapolis, Ind.
TV: FS1 - Alex Faust & Casey Jacobsen
Radio: 107.5FM/93.5FM/1070AM - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
TuneIn Radio App, XM TBD, SiriusXM Internet TBD
@ButlerMBB | #ButlerWay | ButlerSports.com
The Bulldogs return to Hinkle Fieldhouse for a Saturday tip with Xavier. It is the first meeting between the two teams this season. The game was originally scheduled for Friday, but was pushed back a day to accommodate additional COVID testing precautions.
• Butler is 4-2 at Hinkle Fieldhouse this season.
• Tuesday at UConn, Bryce Golden became the seventh different Bulldog to lead the team in scoring this season.
• Golden posted career-highs of 19 points and five three-pointers at UConn.
• Butler committed only eight turnovers Tuesday at UConn, its fifth game this season with single-digit turnovers.
• Bryce Nze ranks second in the BIG EAST at 8.2 rebounds per game.
• Nze has pulled down a total of 46 rebounds over his last four games (including 14 twice).
• Butler limited DePaul to 17 first-half points in the Jan. 19 win.
• Jair Bolden posted a season-high and his second 20-point game of the season with 21 points at DePaul Jan. 19.
• Bolden is second in the BIG EAST at 2.9 three-pointers per game.
• Bolden has led the Bulldogs in scoring in five of his 13 games in a Butler uniform.
• Both Nze (978) and Bolden (950) are approaching 1,000 career points.
• No. 8 Creighton is the highest-ranked opponent Butler has beaten since a 101-93 win over No. 1 Villanova, Dec. 30, 2017.
• Butler has attempted a total of only 11 free throws over the last two games.
• Myles Tate posted his first career double-double (15p/10r) vs. Creighton Jan. 16.
• With 418 assists, Aaron Thompson is now sixth on Butler's career list.
• Thompson shot 4-of-9 at UConn Tuesday, his first game this season shooting less than 50 percent from the field.
• Four different Bulldogs have posted 20-point games for Butler so far this season.
• Only three Bulldogs have appeared in all 13 games this season.
• Four of Butler's top eight players in minutes played this season are true freshmen.
• Freshmen have scored 37 percent of Butler's points so far this season.
THE SERIES: Of its BIG EAST opponents, Xavier is Butler's most-played opponent. The series dates back to 1937 and includes time together in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference and a single season in the Atlantic 10 before both programs joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season. Butler has won the last three meetings in the series, but Xavier has a 41-23 series lead. In games at Hinkle Fieldhouse, Butler holds a 17-14 advantage.
Xavier Leads, 41-23
Streak: Butler, W3
At Hinkle Fieldhouse: Butler Leads, 17-14
LaVall Jordan (at BU) vs. Xavier: 3-3
First Meeting: Xavier, 28-26; 1/16/37 (at XU)
Last Meeting: Butler, 72-71; 3/7/20 (at XU)
HOME COOKING: Butler is 4-2 this season at Hinkle, as the Bulldogs are averaging eight more points per game in the team's six home games compared to the team's six true road games (67.0 to 59.3). Aaron Thompson averages 15.0 points per game with an 18/6 assist/turnover ratio at home (10.0 ppg; 14/10 a/to on the road). Bryce Nze is shooting 51 percent at Hinkle, averaging 12.7 points per game (6.5 ppg; 37-percent shooting on the road).
HANDLE WITH CARE: Butler is third and the BIG EAST and 45th nationally, averaging only 11.5 turnovers per game. Butler had only eight turnovers at UConn Tuesday, the team's fifth single-digit turnover output of the season through 13 games. The Bulldogs turned the ball over only seven times in 45 minutes of play in the Jan. 16 win over Creighton. The Bulldogs committed only six turnovers in the Jan. 6 win over Georgetown, matching the team's fewest turnovers in a game so far this season.
Butler has committed 10 or fewer turnovers in 52 of the 112 games that LaVall Jordan has been head coach at Butler.
BIG NIGHT FOR THE BIG MAN: Junior Bryce Golden posted a career-high 19 points Tuesday night at UConn. That included five three-pointers. It was his first time this season leading the Bulldogs in scoring, as he became the seventh different Bulldog to pace the team.
Golden entered Tuesday's game with 12 career three-pointers, having hit two in a single game twice last season. His 11 made three-pointers in 2019-20 were the most of a returning player on this season's roster.
PERSONNEL UPDATES: On Jan. 26, Butler announced that JaKobe Coles will require season-ending surgery for a torn meniscus in his left knee. Coles injured the knee in practice on New Year's Day. Butler's medical staff put in place a timeline to see if the injury would progress at a rate that surgery would not be required. After a follow-up evaluation Jan. 25, it was determined that surgery would be required. Markeese Hastings, who has been on an indefinite leave of absence since Jan. 16 for personal reasons, has decided to opt-out of the remainder of the 2020-21 season (COVID-19 concerns).
'BOARD' OUT OF HIS MIND: Redshirt senior Bryce Nze has climbed to second in the BIG EAST in rebounding at 8.2 caroms per game. He has pulled down 46 total rebounds over his last four games. Nze pulled down 14 rebounds Jan. 19 at DePaul, his second time in three outings hitting that mark (also at St. John's Jan. 12). It is his highest total in a Butler uniform (although he had 17 in a game while playing at Milwaukee).
FIGHT IN THE DAWG: Butler overcame a 13-point deficit with less than eight minutes to play, pulling out a gritty 70-66 overtime win over No. 8 Creighton Jan. 16 at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
For Butler, No. 8 Creighton is the highest-ranked opponent Butler has beaten since a 101-93 win over No. 1 Villanova, Dec. 30, 2017.
Creighton unleashed a 26-3 run early in the second half to erase a seven-point Butler halftime lead and ultimately take a 51-38 advantage with 11:28 to play. At that point in the second half, Butler was 1-of-14 from the field, while the Bluejays hit 11 of their first 13 attempts. A Denzel Mahoney free throw had the CU advantage at 13 again (58-45) with 7:38 to play. Butler closed regulation on a 17-4 run to send the game to overtime.
Butler has limited Creighton's prolific offense to a combined 10-of-45 mark from three-point range in the last two games at Hinkle.
The 17-4 run by the Bulldogs to send the game to overtime was similar to the Bulldogs' closing stretch in the Jan. 6 win over Georgetown. A Hoya basket with 4:29 remaining gave Georgetown a 55-53 lead. Butler held the Hoyas scoreless the rest of the way in taking a 63-55 win. That closing 10-0 run proved to be the distance. Overall, Butler forced Georgetown misses on 13 of their final 14 attempts from the field.
PUTTING THE D IN DAWGS: In the team's 67-53 win at DePaul Jan. 19, Butler limited the Blue Demons to 17 first-half points and 7-of-28 shooting (25 percent) in the first half.
Overall, Butler held DePaul to 33-percent shooting, the lowest mark for a Butler opponent so far this season. Butler limited DePaul's top three leading scorers, Charlie Moore, Javon Freeman-Liberty and Romeo Weems, to only 15 points on 5-of-26 shooting. The trio entered the match-up averaging 38.4 points per game.
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