No. 9/9 #MUBB Heads To Butler Tuesday Night

The Marquette University men's basketball team (17-3, 8-1 BIG EAST) wraps up the first half of the BIG EAST schedule on Tuesday, Jan. 28 when the team travels to Butler (9-11, 2-7 BIG EAST) at 7:30 pm. CT. FS1 features the national television broadcast, with Jeff Levering (play-by-play) and LaPhonso Ellis (analyst) calling the action. Following Tuesday's outing, the Golden Eagles will host UConn on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. for National Marquette Day.

Series With Butler Spans Program History

The all-time series dates back to the 1922-23 campaign and the Golden Eagles now own a 27-25 advantage.

MU claimed the first-ever meeting, 18-17, on Dec. 16, 1922, only to see the Bulldogs claim the next nine matchups. Marquette also collected a nine-game win streak between 1942 and 1990, with the last two contests during that run coming when both programs were members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference.

Following Marquette's move to the Great Midwest Conference in 1991-92, the two teams wouldn't meet until Butler beat the Golden Eagles at the buzzer in the opening game of the 2012 Maui Invitational. MU would return the favor in the 2013 NCAA tournament, downing the Bulldogs. 74-72. in the closing seconds to earn a trip to the squad's third-straight Sweet 16.

In the most recent matchup, MU claimed and 80-70 decision at Fiserv Forum on Dec. 18, 2024 in the league opener for both programs. Kam Jones led three players in double figures with 23 points and Stevie Mitchell chipped in 15 points and nine rebounds. Marquette committed just two turnovers in the game.

Marquette Shares Top Of BIG EAST Standings

Marquette improved to 8-1 in league play with Friday night's win over Villanova and own a share of first place with St. John's entering play Tuesday night.

Marquette has claimed as many as six-straight victories in BIG EAST play in each of the last four seasons (including 2024-25) and are 39-10 (.796) in league action since the start of 2022-23, which is the best mark in the conference during that time span. Through games of Jan. 26, UConn is second (37-12) and Creighton third (35-14) in BIG EAST play.

Continuity Is Key To Recent Success

Since the 2022-23 campaign, Marquette is the only power conference team that hasn't signed a NCAA Division I transfer, leading to as consistent a starting lineup as any program in the country.

hrough games of Jan. 26, Marquette is one of just nine squads (355 total) to feature the same starting lineup (K. Jones, Mitchell, Joplin, Ross, Gold). Two years ago, Marquette and Marshall were the only two teams in the country to utilize the same starting five the entire season.

Since the opening contest of the 2022-23 campaign (Kolek, Ighodaro, Prosper, Mitchell, Jones), just eight different players have started a game for MU, the lowest total in all of NCAA Division I. Of the eight, the three players (Kolek, Ighodaro, Prosper) currently not starting for the team are competing in the NBA.

Mitchell Adds Offense To Defense In Win

BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year candidate Stevie Mitchell was a factor at both ends of the court in the team's win over Villanova Friday night.

He matched a career high with 21 points and also chipped in four rebounds, three steals and a trio of assists. In 33 minutes of action, he shot 7-of-10 from the floor and knocked down 6-of-8 from the charity stripe.

Through games of Jan. 26, Mitchell is seventh in the country and first in the BIG EAST in steals per game (2.7) and second on the roster in deflections (142). He has moved up to sixth all-time at Marquette with 197 career thefts and in conference outings is averaging 3.1 steals per outing (best in league).

The only other Marquette player to be named the top defender in the BIG EAST was guard Jerel McNeal in 2006-07.

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Players Mentioned

Kam Jones

Stevie Mitchell