No. 6/6 #MUBB Travels To Butler Tuesday Night

The No. 6/6 Marquette University men's basketball team (23-6, 15-3 BIG EAST) wraps up the road portion of its 2022-23 campaign on Tuesday, Feb. 28 when the squad travels to Butler (14-15, 6-12 BIG EAST) for a 5:30 p.m. CT matchup at Hinkle Fieldhouse. FS1 features the television broadcast, with Brandon Gaudin (play-by-play) and Stephen Bardo (analyst) calling the action. Following Tuesday's outing, the Golden Eagles return home to host St. John's on Al's Day/Senior Day.

Series With Butler Spans Program History

The all-time series dates back to the 1922-23 campaign and is tied at 24-24.

MU claimed the first-ever meeting, 18-17, on Dec. 16, 1922, only to see the Bulldogs claim the next nine matchups. Marquette also collected a nine-game win streak between 1942 and 1990, with the last two contests during that run coming when both programs were members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference.

Following Marquette's move to the Great Midwest Conference in 1991-92, the two teams wouldn't meet until Butler beat the Golden Eagles at the buzzer in the opening game of the 2012 Maui Invitational. MU would return the favor in the 2013 NCAA tournament, downing the Bulldogs 74-72 in the closing seconds to earn a trip to the squad's third-straight Sweet 16.

Marquette claimed the first meeting this season, winning 60-52 at Fiserv Forum on Feb. 4. Tyler Kolek led the way with 13 points and eight assists.

MU Exceeding Preseason Expectations

Marquette's win over DePaul Saturday night clinched at least a share of the regular season title, just the program's fourth championship since it began conference affiliation in 1989-90.

Marquette's last regular-season league trophy came in 2012-13 (shared with Louisville and Georgetown) and the team also claimed the Great Midwest Conference championship in 1993-94 and the Conference USA crown in 2002-03.

The team's 15 league wins are its most in school history and for the first time in its tenure in the BIG EAST (joined in 2005-06), Marquette defeated every league opponent at least once.

MU Surprises BIG EAST, Makes League History

Picked to finish ninth in the preseason coaches poll and without a player on the all-league rosters, MU (15-3) is currently in sole possession of first place and is the league's top-ranked squad in the Associated Press poll.

Since the BIG EAST was formed in 1979-80, no team has ever been picked ninth-or-lower and earned at least a share of first place. In 1989-90, UConn was slotted eighth in the preseason poll and tied Syracuse for the regular season title.

No. 6/6 Marquette is one of four BIG EAST programs (UConn - 14, Xavier - 19, Providence - 20) in the latest rankings. MU's ranking is its best of the season and is the program's highest since climbing to No. 5 midway through the 1977-78 campaign (MU was ranked as high as No. 1 that year).

Kolek Emerges As BIG EAST POY Candidate

Guard Tyler Kolek has emerged as a strong candidate for the BIG EAST Player of the Year Award, earning the league's weekly player of the week accolade (honor roll four times) on Feb. 27 for the second time this season.

The Cumberland, R.I., native chipped in 20.0 points, 10.0 assists, 2.5 steals and 2.5 rebounds per outing in wins over Creighton and DePaul. He assisted or scored on 12-of-17 baskets to conclude the game against the Bluejays and scored 15 of the team's final 16 points in the victory over the Blue Demons.

Over the course of the last 11 outings, Kolek is averaging 17.6 points, 7.5 assists and 4.2 rebounds per contest while shooting 50.8 percent from the floor and 42.9 percent from behind the 3-point line. He has reached double figures in points in 10 of the 11 outings.

Kolek is ranked among the national leaders in assists per game (2nd, 7.8), assist-to-turnover ratio (6th, 3.23) and is in the BIG EAST's best in five categories.

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Players Mentioned

Tyler Kolek