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After handily defeating Maine 99-57 in their season opener on Saturday, Butler (1-0) will take on the Chattanooga Mocs at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Tuesday. The Mocs will serve as a sizable step-up in the competition level for the Bulldogs, who have outscored opponents 285-145 between Saturday's blowout win and their two exhibition games.
The Bulldogs are led by junior guard Kellen Dunham, who scored a game-high 18 points against Maine while hitting five of his seven attempts from behind the 3-point arc. Junior Roosevelt Jones, who plays a hybrid "point forward" role for Butler, added 14 points and nine assists in Saturday's victory while dominating in transition. After building some momentum heading into the regular season, the freshman duo of Kelan Martin (12 points) and Tyler Wideman (8 points on 4-4 shooting) will look to continue to elevate the Butler bench as the team's sixth and seventh men, respectively.
Butler will most likely be without senior guard Jackson Aldridge, who suffered an ankle injury in the first half against Maine. Aldridge seemed to have cracked the rotation as the team's third ball-handler behind Jones and senior Alex Barlow, so head coach Chris Holtmann may need to get creative with his lineup due to thin bench depth.
Chattanooga enters the game with a 1-1 record, playing their third game in five days. The Mocs kicked off their season with a 110-53 dismantling of Hiwassee College, but found themselves on the wrong side of blowout on Sunday afternoon with a 89-45 loss to No. 3 Wisconsin. Junior guard Casey Jones has served as the team's primary scorer through the first two games, averaging 12 points and four rebounds per game. The Mocs finished 18-15 last season, including a 12-4 record in conference play while finishing second in the Southern Conference behind Davidson.
The showdown with the Mocs will serve as the first of two games this week for Butler before heading to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Game Time: 9 p.m. ET
TV: Fox Sports 2
Radio: 1070 The Fan