Game Notes: Men's Basketball at Butler

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The SIU men's basketball team travels to Hinkle Fieldhouse for a game against Butler on Monday night. The game will be televised nationally on FS1. The Salukis are 5-0 and looking to get to 6-0 for the first time since the 2003-04 season.

SIU (5-0) at Butler (1-2)

Date & Time » 6:30 p.m. CT on Monday, December 21 // Indianapolis, Ind. (Hinkle Fieldhouse)
Watch » FS1 and FoxSportsGo with Matt Schumacker and Dickey Simpkins
Listen » Saluki Sports Network with Mike Reis and Rodney Watson
Live Stats » StatBroadcast via Butler
Social Media » @SIU_Basketball
Game Notes » SIU (PDF)

Fan Cutouts » Order your own personalized fan cutout to be featured at Banterra Center today.

OPENING TIP

SIU travels to Butler for a 6:30 p.m. CT tipoff on Monday, December 21. The game will be televised nationally on FS1.
SIU is 5-0 for the first time since 2015-16, when the Salukis also started 5-0. SIU is searching for the program's first 6-0 start since 2003-04. That year, Matt Painter was the head coach of the Salukis and guided SIU to a 25-5 season, an MVC title, and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Through December 19 games: SIU is one of 34 teams in the nation that remains undefeated (min. 1-0), and one of just 17 teams in the nation that is 5-0 or better.
SIU jumped into CollegeInsider's Mid-Major Top-25 on Monday, coming in at No. 17, marking the first time SIU has been ranked in the mid-major top-25 since Fall 2018.
Eighty-seven percent of SIU's scoring this season is coming from freshmen and sophomores. Anthony D'Avanzo (50 points) and Jakolby Long (4 points) are SIU's only two available upperclassmen on the roster. (J.D. Muila and Will Keller will miss the season with injuries.)
SIU is shooting 43.6% from the 3-point line, which ranks fifth-best in the nation. The Salukis also rank highly in free throw percentage (78.5%, 21st of 353) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.42:1, 32nd).

ABOUT THE SERIES

Butler leads the all-time series, 2-1.
Butler won at Hinkle Fieldhouse in 1963. The teams played back-to-back classics during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons, with each team winning on the other's home court. SIU's now-head coach Bryan Mullins played for the Salukis in each of those games:
- Feb. 17, 2007: #15 SIU beat #12 Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse, 68-64, in an "ESPN BracketBuster" game. The Salukis were profiled the following week in Sports Illustrated. Both SIU and Butler would go on to advance to the Sweet Sixteen that season.
- Dec. 28, 2007: #16 Butler beat SIU at Banterra Center (then known as SIU Arena) on a 35-foot buzzer-beater by AJ Graves, 57-55.
Todd Lickliter was Butler's head coach in 2006-07. Lickliter is now in the Missouri Valley Conference as head coach at Evansville.
Brad Stevens, now the head coach of the Boston Celtics, was Butler's head coach in 2007-08.
Current Butler head coach LaVall Jordan was an assistant coach at Butler in 2006-07.

HIGH-SCORING SALUKIS

Last season, SIU won games with defense, ranking in the top-15 nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 62.2 points per game (scoring 62.6 ppg).
This year, SIU has maintained the defense, allowing just 64.0 points per game, but stepped up the offense, scoring 81.2 points per game.
The Salukis rank in the top-10 nationally in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting 44% from downtown.
Last year, SIU only scored 70+ points six times (and went 6-0 in those games). This year, SIU has already scored 70+ points four times in the first five games of the season (and is 4-0 in those games).
The top three scoring games of the Bryan Mullins era have all happened this season (102 points vs. Quincy, 87 vs. SEMO, and 85 in Game 1 vs. North Dakota).
The trio of Ben Harvey, Anthony D'Avanzo, and Dalton Banks is shooting 57% from the floor (58-102) and 52% from the 3-point line (16-31).

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Players Mentioned

Dalton Banks

Anthony D'Avanzo

Ben Harvey

Will Keller

Jakolby Long

JD Muila

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