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The Butler Bulldogs open the new college basketball season by hosting the Maine Black Bears on Saturday afternoon in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Bulldogs have dealt with turmoil all offseason, capped off by September's announcement that Brandon Miller will be taking an indefinite medical leave of absence. Interim Head Coach Chris Holtmann will be the thrid different coach behind the bench for Butler on opening night in as many seasons. On the bright side for the Bulldogs, however, Roosevelt Jones will be making his return to the starting lineup after missing all of the 2013-2014 season with a wrist injury. In our Butler season preview, we discussed how big of an impact Jones' return will have for the Bulldogs.
Maine is coming off a terrible year. They finished 6-23 overall with a 4-12 record in the America East Conference. In eight of their losses, they gave up at least 90 points. Their best scorer last season, Xavier Pollard, transferred to Kent State this offseason. To say Maine is a program in shambles might be putting it lightly.
Game time: 4:30 p.m. ET
TV info: FOX Sports 2
Live radio stream: 1070 The Fan