(BUTLER RELEASE)
SCHEDULE UPDATE: The tip time for Butler's home game on Saturday against Creighton has been moved to 4 p.m. The game will now air on FS1. The change is due to the NFL Playoff Schedule for the Divisional weekend, which was announced last night. FOX will host an extended pregame show leading into the Packers-Rams game Saturday afternoon.
GAME 10: BUTLER (3-6, 2-4 BIG EAST) AT ST. JOHN’S (6-6, 1-5 BIG EAST)
Tuesday, Jan. 12; 7PM
Carnesecca Arena; Queens, N.Y.
TV: FS1 - Brian Custer & Jim Spanarkel
Radio: 93.1FM - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
TuneIn Radio App, XM 385, SiriusXM Internet 975
@BUTLERMBB | #BUTLERWAY | BUTLERSPORTS.COM
The Bulldogs return to the road for a Tuesday night tip at St. John’s in Queens, N.Y.
Butler is 3-6 on the young season and 2-4 in conference play. St. John’s is 6-6 and 1-5 (BIG EAST).
• Six different Bulldogs have led the team in scoring over the team’s first nine games.
• Four of Butler’s top eight players in minutes played this season are true freshmen.
• Four different Bulldogs have posted 20-point games for Butler so far this season.
• Bryce Nze scored 18 points Saturday vs. UConn, tying his highest-scoring outing in a Butler uniform (he scored 25 points in a game while at Milwaukee).
• Freshmen have scored 40 percent of Butler’s points so far this season.
• Aaron Thompson tied a season-high with six assists vs. UConn Saturday.
• Butler is 33rd nationally, committing an average of only 11.1 turnovers per game.
• Butler closed Wednesday’s 63-55 win over Georgetown with a 10-0 run.
• Butler tied a season-low by committing only six turnovers against Georgetown.
• Butler limited Georgetown to only 34-percent shooting.
• Chuck Harris has scored in double figures in six of his first nine college games.
• Myles Tate scored a career-high 22 points at Seton Hall Jan. 2.
• Butler shot a season-best 11-of-22 from three-point range at Seton Hall.
• 50 percent of freshman Myles Wilmoth’s rebounds this season have been on the offensive glass.
• JaKobe Coles (meniscus - left knee) is out indefinitely.
• Harris earned BIG EAST Freshman of the Week Dec. 28.
• Jair Bolden’s 2.9 three-pointers per game are third in the BIG EAST.
• Nze ranks 12th in the BIG EAST at 6.7 rebounds per game.
• Bolden has led the Bulldogs in scoring in three of his nine career games in a Butler uniform.
• Butler put five players in double figures in the win over Providence Dec. 23.
• Tate had eight rebounds and seven assists (both career-highs) against Providence Dec. 23.
• Harris posted career-highs of 22 points and six assists vs. Southern Illinois Dec. 21.
THE SERIES: Butler Leads, 9-6
Streak: Butler, W2
At St. John’s: St. John’s Leads, 4-3
LaVall Jordan (at BU) vs. SJU: 4-2
First Meeting: St. John’s, 78-68; 3/13/58 (NIT)
Last Meeting: Butler, 77-55, 3/4/20 (at Hinkle)
Butler holds a 9-6 advantage in the all-time series with St. John’s. Other than a 1958 NIT contest, all of the games have been played since the Bulldogs joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season.
Butler won both games between the two teams during the 2019-20 season. In the final hours of 2019 in Queens, Butler committed 24 turnovers as a 23-point second-half lead fully evaporated. Christian David’s three-pointer with 43 seconds to play gave the Bulldogs a 60-58 win.
On March 4, Butler won, 77-55, at Hinkle Fieldhouse on the Bulldogs’ Senior Night. Five Bulldogs reached double figures in the game. It was the Bulldogs who had the big second half in this meeting as Butler out-scored the visitors, 46-23, over the final 20 minutes after St. John’s had a one-point halftime lead.
YOUNG GUNS: The highest-rated recruiting class in Butler history has lived up to the billing so far. Four true freshmen are among the top eight Bulldogs in terms of minutes played through Butler’s first eight games. Chuck Harris, Myles Tate and JaKobe Coles (who is currently sidelined with a meniscus injury) have each scored in double figures in multiple games so far this season and all three have led the team in scoring in a game so far this season. In a six-point game midway through the second half at No. 7 Villanova Dec. 16, coach LaVall Jordan employed a line-up of his four freshmen alongside John-Michael Mulloy, who played a total of 76 minutes as a freshman last season.
Harris was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week by the conference office Dec. 28. Harris is the third Bulldog to earn Freshman of the Week honors since the Bulldogs joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season. He joins Kelan Martin (final week of the 2014-15 regular season) and Kamar Baldwin (twice during the 2016-17 season) on that list.
For the season, Harris is third among the Bulldogs with an average of 11.1 points per game. He has scored in double figures in six of his nine collegiate contests. He led Butler with 18 points vs. Georgetown. Among true freshmen in the BIG EAST, only Marquette’s Dawson Garcia (at 13.0 points per game) is averaging more.
Tate recorded a career-high 22 points Jan. 2 at Seton Hall. His output included a career-best five three-pointers. He added five assists. For his efforts, he picked up a spot on the BIG EAST weekly honor roll.
Tate became the fourth different Bulldog (and second true freshman) to register a game of 20 or more points through the team’s first seven games. Last season, only Kamar Baldwin and Sean McDermott scored more than 20 points in a game.
Tate is among three true freshman who led the team in scoring through the first seven games of the season.
This is only the third season since 2008-09 that three true freshmen have started a game for Butler: 2020-21 (Tate, Harris, Coles); 2011-12 (Roosevelt Jones, Kameron Woods, Jackson Aldridge); and 2008-09 (Gordon Hayward, Shelvin Mack, Ron Nored).
TIGHT SQUEEZE: Butler turned the ball over only six times in Wednesday’s win over Georgetown, matching the team’s fewest turnovers in a game so far this season. Butler’s average of only 11.1 turnovers per game is 33rd nationally.
This continues a strong trend from last season. Butler had 14 games last season with 10 or fewer turnovers.
CLOSING TIME: Butler had chipped away at what was once an 11-point Georgetown lead. 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 Wednesday night at Hinkle. 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.
GETTING DEFENSIVE: Butler limited Georgetown to 34-percent shooting in Wednesday’s win, which included holding the Hoyas to a 7-of-29 performance from the field in the second half (24 percent). Jahvon Blair entered the game as the BIG EAST’s fourth-leading scorer at 19.0 points per game. Butler, keyed by the return of guard Aaron Thompson, held Blair to 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting.
THREE AT A TIME: The Bulldogs shot a sizzling 11-of-22 from three-point range Jan. 2 at Seton Hall. The 11 three-pointers were the most by a Butler team since hitting 12 at Nebraska March 20, 2019 in the NIT.