Hoops preview: Butler

No. 11 seed Texas (20-13, 8-10 Big 12) vs. No. 6 seed Butler (22-10, 12-6 Big East)

Longhorns defeat St. Joseph’s 67-58, win UKG Legends Classic

Kaluma, Longhorns defeat Orange 70-66 in semifinals of UKG Legends Classic

WHEN: Thursday, March 19, 1:45PM cst (30 minutes after the 1st game finishes)

WHERE: CONSOL Energy Center â€“ Pittsburgh, Pa.'”

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[*]The game will be televised nationally by CBS.

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[*]The game will be the first meeting between Texas and Butler in basketball.

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TEXAS ALL-TIME IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT‘”

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[*]The Longhorns have been invited to the tournament in 16 of the last 17 seasons.

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[*]All-time, Texas has 32 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, and is 35-34 in its previous 31 trips.

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[*]In the last eight NCAA opening-round tilts, Texas is 6-2.

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[*]Rick Barnes is 19-15 as Texas Head Coach in NCAA Tournament games. In his career, Barnes is 21-21 in the Big Dance.

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TEXAS NOTES & TRENDS‘”

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[*]16 of the Hornsâ€™ 33 games have been against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Texas is 4-12 in those contests.

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[*]Despite being 3-3, the team played their best basketball of the year over the last three weeks. Specifically, in the last four games, Longhorn opponents are only averaging 57.5 ppg and combined to shoot just 39.0% (87-of-223).

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[*]Texas is 4th nationally in field goal percentage defense (.368) and 1st nationally in blocks per game (7.9 bpg).

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[*]In the two games at the Big 12 Championship, Jonathan Holmes showed signs of returning to form. In Kansas City, Holmes averaged 12.0 ppg and a team-best 8.5 rpg in 26.5 mpg.

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BUTLER OVERVIEW‘”

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[*]Butler earned an at-large bid to this year’s national championship.

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[*]The Bulldogs finished 22-10, and tied for second place in the Big East.

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[*]Butler has six wins over teams in the top 50 of the RPI.

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[*]Six Butler players have been on an NCAA Tournament team.

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[*]Butler has not lost consecutive games since Dec. 20. (Last game was a loss in the Big East tournament.)

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[*]Butler has not lost an NCAA Tournament game as the higher-seeded team.

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BUTLER NOTES & TRENDS‘”

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[*]In Butlerâ€™s overtime loss in the Big East tournament quarterfinals, point-guard Alex Barlow had a career-high 22 points. He also set a career-best with five three-point field goals, and finished with a game-high four steals.

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[*]Kellen Dunham leads the team in scoring, and ranks third in the Big East at 16.7 ppg.

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[*]Kameron Woods is the Bulldogsâ€™ top rebounder. Woods led Butler in rebounding in 16 of the past 18 games and in 25 games overall this season, ranking first in the Big East and 15th nationally with 313 total rebounds.

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[*]Butler led the Big East and ranks 21st in the NCAA in rebounding margin at +6.5 per game.

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