With both teams attempting to bounce back from losses on the road, Butler will host Georgetown in a Big East Conference contest on Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis.

Coming off a thrilling upset win at home over then-No. 13 Xavier, Butler (13-14, 5-11) traveled to Villanova on Tuesday night and lost to the Wildcats 62-50.

Reigning Big East player of the week Jayden Taylor once again led the way for the Bulldogs with 20 points, while Manny Bates added 12 points with nine rebounds. Butler used only one substitute and both Taylor and Eric Hunter Jr. played all 40 minutes.

Bates was forced to exit the game with an undisclosed injury in the second half and did not return. His status for Sunday has not been announced.

“They were very, very physical on his (Bates) post-ups, loading up the box on him,” Butler coach Thad Matta said. “His shoulder got moved back. He’s doing a lot better now, hopefully he’ll be okay.”

Georgetown (6-21, 1-15) lost 76-68 at Seton Hall on Tuesday night, the Hoyas’ sixth straight loss since their lone Big East win on Jan. 24 against DePaul.

Primo Spears led the Hoyas on Tuesday with 16 points and five assists while Jay Heath added 12 points and Bradley Ezewiro had 10 points and five rebounds. The Hoyas committed 16 turnovers and shot just 36.5 percent from the floor, including 24.0 percent (6 of 25) from beyond the arc.

“I think that defense is all about the players that you have,” Hoyas coach Patrick Ewing said about the Pirates’ stingy defense. “They have guys who can take the challenge and play very good defense. But I thought that for the most part we got good shots, they just didn’t drop.”

This will be the second matchup this season after Butler beat Georgetown 80-51 on New Year’s Day in Washington, D.C. Taylor scored a game-high 24 points for the Bulldogs and Akok Akok led the Hoyas with 12 points.

It remains a very tight all-time series between the conference rivals as Butler holds a slim 11-10 lead since the first meeting in 2009.

–Field Level Media