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Feb. 18, 2002

FINISHING RUN: The Bulldogs (24-3, 11-3 Horizon League), riding an eight-game winning streak and holding a half-game lead in the Horizon league race, can secure at least a share of their third straight conference regular season championship with wins in their final two games. But standing in the way are the league's two Chicago members. Butler will visit Loyola (14-11, 8-6 Horizon) for a 7 p.m. (CDT) game on Wednesday, Feb. 20. The Bulldogs will return to Hinkle Fieldhouse for their regular season finale against UIC (17-11, 8-6 Horizon) on Saturday, Feb. 23. The 4 p.m. (EST) contest will be televised nationally on ESPN.

Butler is the first team in the 23-year league history to post at least 10 conference wins in four consecutive seasons.

EIGHT STRAIGHT: Butler extended the longest active winning streak in the Horizon League to eight in a row with wins at UW-Green Bay, 77-74, and over Youngstown State, 75-50. It took a steal by guard Mike Monserez in the closing seconds at Green Bay to preserve Butler's come-from-behind win against the Phoenix. The Bulldogs out-scored UW-Green Bay, 9-4, in the final 3:45 to pick up the win. Butler jumped to a 13-point first half lead against Youngstown State at Hinkle Fieldhouse and then stretched that margin to as many as 30 points in the final period.

ELITE COMPANY: Butler's winning percentage of .889 (24-3) is tied for fourth best in Division I. Butler, Cincinnati, and Gonzaga lead the nation in victories with 24.

The Bulldogs have tied the school record for victories in a season, set last year.

SENIOR SALUTE: The Bulldogs' game against UIC will mark the final home appearance of the most successful group of seniors in Butler's basketball history. Thomas Jackson and Rylan Hainje already rank as the winningest senior class in Butler history with 93 wins over their four seasons. Scott Robisch, who graduated last spring, is finishing an abbreviated Butler career that has seen the Bulldogs win 85% of the games that he's played.

BENCH PRESS: Junior Darnell Archey came off the bench and scored 22 points in 25 minutes to lead the Bulldogs past Youngstown State. Archey hit eight of the nine shots he took against the Penguins, including a career-best six of seven from beyond the three-point arc. The six three-pointers were the most by a Butler player since January of 1998, when current Butler coordinator of basketball operations Matthew Graves nailed six three-pointers against Detroit. Archey scored 13 of his points in the second half. It was just the second double-figure scoring performance for Butler's long-range bomber since Jan. 1.

Darnell Archey ranks 7th on Butler's all-time list for three-point field goals with 132.

20-20: Senior Rylan Hainje and junior Brandon Miller shared game scoring honors at UW-Green Bay with 20 points apiece, and the two led Butler's second half comeback against the Phoenix. Hainje hit six of eight shots from the floor, including two of two from beyond the three-point arc, and scored 15 points in the final 20 minutes of the contest. Miller tallied 13 of his points in the final period, including seven of nine attempts from the free throw line. Hainje scored seven points and Miller added three to lead Butler on a 10-3 scoring run to open the second half, erasing UW-Green Bay's 39-37 halftime lead.

Rylan Hainje leads the Bulldogs with six 20-point scoring performances this season.

MILLER TIME: Junior guard Brandon Miller has scored in double-figures in six of the eight games on Butler's current winning streak. He's averaging 13.0 points during the streak, and that includes a scoreless performance against Detroit and a one-point performance against Youngstown State.

Butler is 32-4 all-time when Brandon Miller scores in double-figures, including 16-0 this year.

NORTHERN HEAT: Butler survived a red-hot UW-Green Bay squad at Brown County Arena. The Phoenix shot 70% from the field in the first half and ended the game shooting .625 (25-40). UW-Green Bay hit six of eight (75%) shots from beyond the three-point arc in the contest and nailed 18 of 20 (90%) attempts from the free throw line. The Bulldogs shot a season-best .553 (26-47) in the game.

STILL DEFENSIVE: After yielding their second-highest point total of the season at UW-Green Bay, the Bulldogs turned up the defensive pressure against Youngstown State and held the Penguins to their second-lowest point total of the season. Butler has held five of its last six opponents below 60 points and kept Detroit and Cleveland State below 50 points. The Bulldogs have held 16 opponents below 60 points this season and have won all 16 games!

Butler ranks second in Division I in scoring defense (57.2), trailing only Princeton.

THREE FOR ALL: Butler ranks 17th in Division I in three-point field goals per game (8.7). The Bulldogs have hit nine or more three-point field goals in 15 of 26 contests, including a season-best 14 three-pointers against Evansville.

ALL-DISTRICT: Butler senior Thomas Jackson was one of 10 players named to the All-District 10 team, selected by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. District 10 covers Division I schools in Indiana and Ohio. The NABC named 150 student-athletes to the 15 All-District teams, and that pool is now eligible for the NABC/Pontiac Division I All-America Team.

BULLDOG BITS:

Butler leads the nation in wins away from home with 15 this season. Duke is second with 14 away wins.

The Bulldogs lead the Horizon League and rank 11th in Division I in scoring margin (+13.8).

Butler leads the league in fewest turnovers per game (10.2 pg). The Bulldogs also lead the league in turnover margin (+6.00) and assist/turnover ratio (1.43).

Senior Thomas Jackson leads the Horizon League in assist/turnover ratio (2.76) and steals (2.75) and stands fourth in assists (4.48).

Junior Joel Cornette ranks second in the conference in offensive rebounds (2.63).

Forward Rylan Hainje has started 115 games during his Butler career. Point-guard Thomas Jackson has started 96 consecutive games, while juniors Joel Cornette and Brandon Miller each have 59 straight starts for the Bulldogs.

Rylan Hainje and Thomas Jackson both joined Butler's 1,000-point club this season. Hainje currently is 14th on Butler's all-time scoring list with 1,314 career points, while Jackson is 16th with 1,271 career points. Tom Bowman, 1960-63, holds the No. 13 spot with 1,334 career points.

Junior Darnell Archey has connected on 34 consecutive free throws, dating back to last season. He's hit 62 of his last 64 attempts from the charity stripe.

Butler is on target to break the school single season attendance record of 68,712 set in 15 games in 1991-92. Through 11 home games this season, the Bulldogs have attracted 66,647 fans. Butler is averaging 6,059 fans at home, the most since the renovation of Hinkle Fieldhouse in 1989.

MAYBE YOU MISSED THIS:

Thomas Jackson and Rylan Hainje became Butler's all-time winningest senior class with the win at UW-Green Bay, and they're heading into the game at Loyola with 93 all-time victories. The duo also have compiled the most conference wins (45) of any senior class in the 23-year history of the Horizon League. Overall, Hainje and Jackson currently rank third among the league's all-time winningest senior classes, trailing only the 1991 Xavier senior class of Jamal Walker, Michael Davenport and Colin Parker (97 wins), and Detroit's Rashad Phillips, who completed his career last year after helping the Titans to 95 wins.