Indy Standard

@ButlerMBB to Close Out Battle 4 Atlantis Friday Night vs. North Carolina State'

The Bulldogs close out play at the 2022 Battle 4 Atlantis with a Friday tip against North Carolina State. Both teams have split their opening two contests of the tournament and will square off in the fifth-place game. 

Butler (4-2) vs. North Carolina State (5-1)

Friday, Nov. 25; 10PM

Battle 4 Atlantis

Paradise Island, Bahamas

 

FOLLOW ALONG:

TV:  ESPN2 & ESPN App -  Jon Sciambi & Jimmy Dykes

Radio:  1430AM - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)

Varsity Network Radio App

 

PDF Notes Available at https://bit.ly/3NGADRf

 

SERIES: This will be the first meeting between Butler and the Wolfpack. NC State, Boston College and Georgia Tech are the only three members of the current 15-team ACC that Butler has yet to face. The Bulldogs have faced eight current ACC members in NCAA Tournament action (North Carolina, Virginia, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Duke, Louisville, and Wake Forest) – all since 2001.

•    Butler graduate student Manny Bates – in his first season with the Bulldogs – will face off against his old team in NC State Friday. Bates missed two of his four seasons with the Wolfpack due to injury, but still registered 147 career blocks, which are fourth-most in program history.

•    Eric Hunter Jr. scored 12 of Butler's final 17 points as the Bulldogs held on for a 75-70 Thanksgiving Day win over BYU on the second day of the Battle 4 Atlantis. Hunter finished with 19 points and went 3-for-3 from three-point range with all of those treys coming in the final seven minutes of the contest. The 19 points were both a season- and a Butler-high for Hunter.

•    Butler orchestrated a 17-6 run to take a 54-48 lead with 11:20 remaining after BYU opened the second half with a 12-0 spurt that erased a 37-30 Butler halftime lead. Jayden Taylor scored 11 of those 17 points during the run.

•    Taylor scored a season-high 20 points to lead Butler; he went 8-for-13 from the field. The sophomore has led the Bulldogs in scoring in three straight games, scoring at least 18 points in each game. Thursday was the second 20-point game of his Butler career and the eight made field goals were a career-best.

•    After starting the season shooting a combined 6-for-24 (25 percent) in Butler's first two games, Taylor has shot an impressive 26-for-38 (68 percent) over the team's last four games. He is 12-for-19 from three-point range (63 percent) over those same four games.

•    The Bulldogs shot 7-for-15 (47 percent) from three-point range against BYU Thursday; Butler has shot that percentage or better from behind the arc in three of its last four games.

•    Against BYU Thursday, Bates was limited to seven minutes in the first half with two fouls and DJ Hughes left the game later in the first half due to injury and did not return. Freshman Connor Turnbull played a career-high eight minutes, all in the first half. He had two blocks.

•    Butler held BYU to 3-for-20 shooting from three-point range Thursday.

•    Bates is shooting 71 percent from the field this season. He has shot 50 percent or better in all six of Butler's games. He only had one block Thursday against BYU, the only game this season that he hasn't swatted multiple shots.

•    Butler opened the Battle 4 Atlantis with a 71-45 loss to No. 22 Tennessee before rebounding to defeat BYU; North Carolina State lost to No. 3 Kansas, 80-74, in their first game before knocking off Dayton, 76-64, Thursday.

•    Once the Bulldogs return to Indianapolis, the team's next match-up is with Kansas State at Hinkle Fieldhouse as part of the BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle on Wednesday, Nov. 30. Kansas State just won the 2022 Cayman Island Classic Championship and is 6-0 on the season.

Original source can be found here.