BUTLER - Notes

#AndrewSmithStrong: 

Butler stand-out Andrew Smith passed away Tuesday (Jan. 12) morning after a two-year battle with cancer. Smith was a member of Butler’s basketball teams from the 2009-10 through 2012-13 seasons. He was a member of both national championship game teams (2010, 2011) and an Academic All-American. He is one of three players in program history to record both 100 wins and 1,000 career points. A memorial service is planned for Sunday. Butler will wear a uniform patch in tribute to Andrew for the remainder of the season. At Saturday’s game, a video tribute and moment of silence are planned. 

Saturday’s game is also the third annual Stay Positive game, which is an organization founded by cancer survivor Eric Day. Proceeds from several in-game fundraisers will benefit the Smith Family. 

‘ROSE’ TO THE OCCASION: 

Roosevelt Jones scored the final 10 points of the game for Butler in Saturday’s narrow defeat to Villanova. He finished the game with a team-high 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting. It was his second 20-point game of the season, trailing only his 21 points in the win over Tennessee, Dec. 12. He has scored in double figures in 14 of the team’s 16 games this season. He is second on the team in scoring at 14.6 PPG.

70-PERCENT CLIP: 

Through 50 games as the head coach at Butler, Chris Holtmann sports a 35-15 record, which is good for a .700 winning percentage. Of coaches who have been at the helm of Butler’s program for more than one season, only 3 (Harlan Page, Thad Matta and Brad Stevens) have a career winning percentage of .700 or better. 

(DUNHAM) HE’S HEATING UP: 

Senior Kellen Dunham has made 9 of his last 15 from behind the arc, covering the team’s 3 most recent games. That is on the heels of missing 23 consecutive three-point attempts, by far the coldest stretch of his Butler career. Before the four-game stretch without a long ball, Dunham had at least one three-pointer in 26 consecutive games. His 247 career three-pointers are third on Butler’s all-time list. 

Dunham’s 2.2 three-pointers per game this season are fifth in the BIG EAST. 

(DUNHAM) SCORING LEADER: 

Kellen Dunham’s team-high 24 points at DePaul Jan. 5 was the first time in the team’s last 9 games that he paced the Bulldogs in scoring. He led the team in scoring in five of Butler’s first 6 games this season. For his career, Dunham has led the team in scoring on 46 occasions. 

In his 3.5 years at Butler, Dunham has scored in double figures 84 times, including 23 performances of at least 20 points. 

(DUNHAM) ACCEPTING THEIR CHARITY: 

Kellen Dunham is tenth nationally and second in the BIG EAST with a .903 clip at the free throw line. He is 56-of-62 on the season. 

WINNING THE CLOSE ONES: 

Butler’s loss against Villanova was the first defeat in a game decided by 6 points or less this season. Butler is now 4-1 in those games. Only seven of Butler’s 16 games have been decided by a single-digit margin (the Bulldogs are 5-2 in those contests). 

CLUTCH: 

In the last 5' of games, Butler’s 3 starting guards are shooting a combined 88% (43-49) at the free throw line (Kellen Dunham, 14-15; Tyler Lewis, 17-19; Roosevelt Jones, 12-15). As a team, Butler shoots an even 75% from the charity stripe in the final 5' of its games this season. 

HANDLE WITH CARE: 

For the tenth time in 16 games this season, Butler committed 10 or fewer turnovers with only 8 miscues against Villanova Sunday night. Butler leads the BIG EAST and ranks third nationally in TPG (9.4). Butler also leads the conference and is tenth nationally in assist/turnover ratio (1.66). 

(LEWIS) PROTECTOR OF THE ROCK: 

Tyler Lewis has been steady at the point all season, leading the BIG EAST and ranking eighth in the nation with a 4.06 assist/turnover ratio. There have only been 3 games this season (in 16 contests) when Lewis has committed more than 1 turnover. 

(WIDEMAN) BETTER THAN A COIN FLIP: 

Tyler Wideman went 3-of-4 from the field en route to 10 points against Villanova Sunday night. His is third in the BIG EAST in field goal percentage at a .655 clip. In only 1 game this season (0-3 against VMI-Virginia Military Institute) has Wideman not shot at least 50% from the field. His only miss against Villanova came in the final seconds of the game on his first career three-point attempt. 

Wideman has been perfect from the field on three occasions this season (8-8 vs. The Citadel, 7-7 vs. Southern Utah, and 5-5 vs. Providence). 

(DUNHAM & JONES) SUCCESS AGAINST ST. JOHN’S: 

Kellen Dunham has scored in double figures in all 4 career games against St. John’s, averaging 18.8 points per game. 

In 2 career contests with the Red Storm, Roosevelt Jones has scored 14 and 13 points, respectively. 

(JONES) TOP 10 PERFORMANCES: 

Roosevelt Jones is currently sixth in Butler career assists with 384 in his 3.5 seasons as a Bulldog and ranks tenth in rebounding with 708 career caroms. Jones is the only Butler player in program history to appear in the Top 10 lists for both rebounds and assists. With five steals at DePaul, he also broke into Butler’s Top 10 list in that category. Jones is also tied for 21st in career scoring with 1,311 career points. 

The versatility of Jones is evidenced by being in the Top 10 in 5 BIG EAST statistical categories: 

• third in steals (1.7), 
• fourth in assists (4.6), 
• sixth in assist/turnover ratio (2.4), 
• ninth in scoring (14.6),
• tenth in rebounding (7.0). 

(JONES) DOUBLE-DOUBLE: 

Roosevelt Jones had 12 points and 10 rebounds against Southern Utah on Dec. 22, his most recent double-double. Jones has six double-doubles on the season and 13 for his Butler career. Jones has posted five double-figure rebounding outputs and has twice had double-digit assists this season. 

(JONES) STEADY CLIMB: 

Roosevelt Jones had improved from the free throw line in each season, and his gains for 2015-16 are the largest to date. In his first three seasons, Jones shot .500, .552, and .606. Currently, he’s shooting 69 percent for the season, including 27-of-32 over his last five games (and 83 percent in BIG EAST play). 

(MARTIN) SIXTH MAN IS A GOOD MAN: 

Despite starting only one contest this season, Kelan Martin ranks third on the team in scoring at 13.5 PPG. He has led the team in scoring 6 times this season. Martin has scored in double figures 11 times this season. He has four 20-point games. 

KEEPING YOUR BALANCE: 

For the sixth time this season, five Bulldogs scored in double figures at Xavier Jan. 2. Four Bulldogs average double figures on the season (Dunham, Martin, Jones, and Chrabascz) with Tyler Wideman (9.3) and Tyler Lewis (7.8) just off the pace. Seven Bulldogs had 10+ in the season-opening win over The Citadel, while five Bulldogs reached double figures against Cincinnati, SIUE, VMI, Tennessee, and Xavier. 

Of the 12 players who have seen action this season, eight have scored double figures in at least one contest.

NEAR THE TOP: 

Offensively, Butler is among the national leaders in a variety of categories so far this season. (These statistics are through the games of Wednesday, Jan. 13). 

• The Bulldogs are:
• Third in Fewest Turnovers (9.4 per game)
• Tenth in Assist/Turnover Ratio (1.66)
• 16th in Scoring Offense (84.6 points per game)
• 19th in Turnover Margin (+3.7)
• 24th in Scoring Margin (+13.9 per game)
• 26th in Field Goal Percentage (.488)

LEAGUE-LEADING: 

Butler leads the BIG EAST in scoring, field goal percentage, fewest turnovers committed, and assist/turnover ratio, while the Bulldogs are second in rebounding margin and turnover margin.

POLL POSITION: 

Butler is #23 in both the AP Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll. Butler had climbed to as high as ninth in the AP poll and #10 in the coaches poll, Butler’s highest appearance in the polls since being ranked ninth in the AP (Jan. 28, 2013) and tenth in the coaches poll (Feb. 11, 2013) during the 2012-13. 

(JONES) THREE IN A ROW: 

Roosevelt Jones posted a double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds) in the team’s win over Top 10 Purdue Dec. 19. It earned him BIG EAST “Player of the Week” accolades, which made him the third consecutive Butler player to earn the BIG EAST honor, joining Kellen Dunham (Dec. 7) and Kelan Martin (Dec. 14).

A LOOK AHEAD:

On Nov. 11, Butler signed 4 players to letters of intent to begin play with the 2016-17 season. The class was rated #20 nationally by Rivals on signing day. 

• Joey Brunk (6-10, C, Indianapolis, Ind.)Howard Washington (6-3, G, Buffalo, N.Y.)
• Kamar Baldwin (6-0, G, Winder, Ga.)
• Henry Baddley (6-4, F, Wadsworth, Ohio) 
• Kethan Savage, a 6-3 transfer from George Washington, is sitting out this season and will have one season of eligibility remaining for the 2016-17 season.