Butler Looks To Get Back on Track Wednesday With Blue Dragons in Town

The Teams: No. 5 Butler Grizzlies (12-2, 7-1) vs. Hutchinson Blue Dragons (9-5, 5-3)

Where: El Dorado, KS

Venue: Power Plant

Time: 7:30 p.m. CT

Tickets: ButlerGrizzlies.com/Tickets or purchase at the door. GA tickets $6, chairback $10, children 12 and under free

Streaming: ButlerGrizzlies.com/WatchLive or the BCTV+ mobile app

Radio: 97.5/1240 KFH; KFHRadio.com

Live Stats: https://butlergrizzlies.com/sports/mbkb/2024-25/boxscores/20250108_2x5t.xml

Following the first conference loss of the season for the fifth ranked Butler Grizzlies men's basketball team, they now set their sights on another home game with Hutchinson coming to town for a Wednesday night showdown.

LAST TIME OUT

The fifth ranked Butler Community College men's basketball squad suffered its first Jayhawk Conference loss of the 2024 season falling 70-61 to No. 23 ranked Coffeyville on Saturday night in the Power Plant. The Grizzlies (12-2, 7-1 KJCCC) turned the ball over a season-high 26 times in the game while shooting 38.9% from the field as the Red Ravens escaped with the road win to move to 7-1 in league play, 11-3 overall. The game saw 10 ties and eight lead changes. Josiah Kirkwood led Butler with 14 points off the bench. Devonte Reed finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. Emeka Opurum added a game-high 12 rebounds. The Grizzlies were just 5-17 from three, their second lowest total on the season. The lowest came in the previous game as Butler was 4-22 from distance in a road win at Indy.

SERIES

Hutchinson leads the all-time series 129-70 dating back to 1929. The Grizzlies and Blue Dragons split two games a season ago and the two teams are 5-5 in the last 10 games played.

NATIONAL RANKINGS

Butler is the fifth ranked team in the latest NJCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball Poll. The Grizzlies have been ranked in six of seven polls this season and the No. 5 ranking is the highest for the program since the 2014-15 season. Hutchinson opened the season ranked 15th in the preseason poll and stayed put in the week one poll but have not been ranked since. Click here for the full rankings.

KJCCC STANDINGS

Cowley (8-1) is 0.5 games ahead of both Butler (7-1) and Coffeyville (7-1) atop the KJCCC standings. Hutchinson sits in fourth place with a 4-3 league record. Click here for full standings.

COMMON CONFERENCE OPPONENTS

Barton: Butler won 82-72 at home. Hutchinson lost 94-89 in overtime on the road.

Fort Hays Tech: Butler won 83-54 at home. Hutchinson won 94-89 in overtime on the road.

Colby: Butler won 57-54 at home. Hutchinson won 81-80 at home.

Independence: Butler won 95-91 on the road. Hutchinson lost 103-97 on the road.

Coffeyville: Butler lost 70-61 at home. Hutchinson lost 81-77 at home.

FAMILIAR FACE

Hutchinson head coach Kyle Fisher makes his return to the Power Plant for the first time since he left Butler for Hutch following the 2023-24 season. Fisher coached the Grizzlies for five seasons, ending his tenure with a 113-42 overall record as well as one Region 6 championship in the 2022-23 season. First year Butler head coach Eric Nitsche was the associate head coach at Hutchinson last season, his third and final season on staff with the Blue Dragons under former head coach Tommy DeSalme.

FORMER GRIZZLIES

Hutchinson has three former Grizzlies on its roster. Jaquez Thornton, Khalil Arnold and Aidan Wing all were a part of Butler's 2023-24 team and transferred to Hutchinson after the season as Fisher left. Thornton holds the Butler individual game record for free throws made and attempted, as he was 18-19 in a loss to Pratt on Feb. 28th, 2024.

3-POINT VOLUME

• Butler has made and attempted the most three pointers in the conference this season (141-445).
• The 445 attempted threes are 97 more than the next highest team, Garden City (348 attempts).
• Sophomore guard Bubba Leavell leads the league with 50 made three's this season, 10 more than the next highest marksman, Cowley's Marcus Whitlock Jr.
• Butler's 31.7% three-point percentage ranks second to last in the Jayhawk ahead of only Dodge City (31.1%).

DEFENSE

• The Grizzlies have allowed the fourth fewest field goals made among conference teams this season (349) as well as the fourth lowest opponent field goal percentage (40.8%).
• Butler has allowed just 75 made three's from its opponents this season, second best in the conference behind only Independence.
• Butler's pressure defense forces 15.6 turnovers per game, third most in the KJCCC.

REBOUNDING PROWESS

• Butler leads the KJCCC averaging 41.9 rebounds per game.
• The Grizzlies pull down a league-best 14.4 offensive rebounds per game.
• Freshman forward Emeka Opurum leads the team with 6.9 rebounds per game while freshman forward Devin Kerr averages 6.4 rebounds per game. Three other Grizzlies pull down 4.0 rebounds or more per game.

BLOCKED SHOTS

• Butler blocks the most shots in the league on a per game basis, 5.3 per game.
• Freshman forward Emeka Opurum's 2.8 blocks per game lead the conference. He averages 3.5 blocks per game in conference play which is also tops.

DEEP ROTATION

• Butler sees eight players average 6.0 points or more.
• 10 players average at least 10 minutes per game led by freshman forward Devin Kerr's 24.7 minutes per game.
• Four different players have led the Grizzlies in scoring in a game this season, (Bubba Leavell, Russell Branch, Josiah Kirkwood, Devonte Reed).

FREE THROW SHOOTERS

• Hutchinson guard Jaquez Thornton and Butler guard Russell Branch are 1-2 in the league in free throws made.
• Thornton is 75-88 (85.2%) on the season to lead the KJCCC.
• Branch is 65-83 (78.3%) good for second most.
• Hutchinson has another player, DJ Dudley, among the top-10 in made freebies as Dudley is 56-71 (78.9%), the eighth most in the league.
• Thornton has made 10+ free throws in two of his last three games.

LOOKING AT THE BLUE DRAGONS

• Hutchinson leads the league in free throw makes and attempts (273-363). Their 75.2% shooting from the charity stripe is third best in the league.
• They have attemped 20+ free throws in six of 14 games this season.
• The Blue Dragons average 29.1 defensive rebounds per game, most in the conference.
• Hutch averages 8.8 steals per game, second most in the conference.
• Hutchinson's 16.0 assists per game is second best in the Jayhawk.
• Sophomore guard Jaquez Thornton ranks fifth in the KJCCC averaging 16.9 points per game.
• The Blue Dragons have four players averaging double digit points or better per game.
• Freshman guard/forward Bobby Cannon leads Hutch in rebounds per game (6.9) and blocks per game (2.4).