THE VITALITY: #9 Marquette Golden Eagles (9-2, 0-0 Big East) vs. Butler Bulldogs (7-4, 0-0 Big East)

THE DATE: Wednesday, December 18, 2024

THE TIME: 8 p.m. Central

THE LOCATION: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

THE TV: FS1, in conversation with Jeff Levering and LaPhonso Ellis

THE STREAMING: FoxSports.com/live or the Fox Sports app

THE RADIO: 94.5 ESPN Milwaukee, available online at Wisconsin on demand or The Varsity Network

THE LIVE STATS: Sidearm stats

THE LINE: Marquette -13.5 from our friends at Draft Kings.

THE PROJECTION: KenPom gives Marquette an 88% chance of winning with a projected score of 81-68.

THE EXCITEMENT LEVEL: KenPom gives this game a Thrill Score of 40.0, making it the 11th most exciting game out of 56 Division 1 contests scheduled for the day. #1? Oklahoma vs. Michigan at 75.2.

Likely Marquette lineup

• Stevie Mitchell (11.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.4 apg, 2.3 spg)
• Kam Jones (20.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 6.4 apg, 1.6 spg)
• Chase Ross (11.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.4 apg, 2.4 spg)
• David Joplin (14.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.2 spg)
• Ben Gold (8.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.5 apg)

MARQUETTE INJURY UPDATE: Junior guard Sean Jones will be out for a while recovered from cruciate ligament surgery in January.

BUTLER PROBABLY LINEUP

• Finley Bizjack (6.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.6 apg, 0.5 spg)
• Pierre Brooks II (15.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.7 apg, 0.3 spg)
• Jahmyl Telfort (16.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.0 apg, 0.5 spg)
• Patrick McCaffrey (12.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.3 apg, 0.4 spg)
• Andre Screen (6.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 0.7 apg, 1.3 bpg)

BUTLER INJURY UPDATE: Butler forward Augusto Cassia is out indefinitely with a knee injury he suffered against North Dakota State. He averaged 5.1 points and 3.1 rebounds in 15 minutes per night while starting eight times.

YOUR ALTERNATIVE SONG OF THE DAY from the 90s: Lightning Crashes by Live