Opponent: St. John's
Specifics: Thursday, Dec. 29  |  7 p.m.  |  Carnesecca Arena  |  Queens, N.Y.
TV: FS1  |  Brian Custer & Tarik Turner
Radio: 1070 AM & 93.5 FM (also streamed through TuneIn Radio App)  |  Mark Minner (play-by-play) & Nick Gardner (analyst)
Follow Along: @ButlerMBB

Full Notes (PDF)

SECOND SEASON: The Bulldogs open the BIG EAST schedule Thursday night, traveling to Queens, N.Y., for a match-up with St. John's. Butler enters with a record of 11-1, while the Red Storm stands at 6-7. The 7 p.m. tip will be played on the St. John's campus at Carnesecca Arena and will air nationally on FS1.
 
THE SERIES: This will be the eighth match-up between the two programs. The first meeting came in the 1958 NIT, while the last six have been since Butler joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season. Butler has won the last four meetings and holds a 4-3 lead in the all-time series.
 
CENTURY MARK: Chris Holtmann picked up career win No. 100 as a head coach with the Bulldogs' victory over Vermont Wednesday. Holtmann is now 100-77 overall as a head coach, including 56-23 at Butler.
 
20-20: For the first time this season, Butler had two players go for at least 20 points in the same game as Andrew Chrabascz posted 28 points and Kelan Martin added 21 in the win over Vermont. It was the first time two Bulldogs combined on the feat since March 2, 2016 at Seton Hall.
 
G-UNIT: Andrew Chrabascz scored his 1,000^th career point in the Dec. 17 win over Indiana. Teammate Kelan Martin is now just 14 points shy from joining him on Butler's list. Chrabascz is only the 38^th Bulldog to accomplish the feat.
 
LAST SEASON VS. THE STORM: Butler went 2-0 against St. John's a season ago. Both games carried additional significance. In the win at Hinkle Fieldhouse Jan. 16, it was the first game following the passing for former Butler standout Andrew Smith, who valiantly fought cancer. His family was in attendance and his widow, Samantha, addressed the crowd. In Butler's win Feb. 6 at Queens, Butler's Roosevelt Jones posted the first triple-double by a Bulldog since 1984.
 
Kelan Martin averaged 20.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in two games against St. John's last season.
 
LIVIN' IN THE 80s: Butler is now 27-0 under Chris Holtmann when scoring 80 or more points. They accomplished the feat 15 times in 2015-16 and on six occasions in 2014-15 to pair with six 80 performances on the young 2016-17 season.
 
Kelan Martin has led the Bulldogs in scoring in seven of the team's 12 games this season. He has scored 20 or more points in six of those contests, including four of the last five games as he has averaged 22.2 points per game over that stretch.
 
PASSED THE MIDTERM: Butler finished the non-conference season with a record of 11-1. The Bulldogs posted an 11-1 non-conference mark for the second consecutive season. The last team to start better than 11-1 was the 2008-09 team that started 19-1 on its way to a 26-6 mark.
 
The Bulldogs are now 3-0 versus Top 25 teams in 2016-17, including two Top 10 wins.
 
MAKE MORE THAN YOU MISS: The Bulldogs shot 57 percent from the field in the win over Vermont in their last outing. Including five times this season, Butler is 23-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field under head coach Chris Holtmann.
 
Butler is shooting 49.5 percent from the field this season, which ranks 22nd nationally.
 
HOME COOKING: With the win over Vermont, Butler has now won 35 consecutive home games against non-conference opponents. The streak dates back to a loss to Pittsburgh in the 2012 College Basketball Invitational (CBI).
 
Butler coach Chris Holtmann is 33-6 at Hinkle Fieldhouse as head coach of the Bulldogs.
 
AFTER 20 MINUTES: Butler has led at the half in nine of 12 games this season. The Bulldogs are 49-7 when leading at the half during Chris Holtmann's time on the Butler sidelines.
 
SEASON-BEST: Andrew Chrabascz's 28 points against Vermont were a season-high, and just two points off his career-best of 30. Chrabascz went 12-of-18 from the field. His previous high for a 2016-17 contest was 18 at Indiana State.
 
Chrabascz is second on the team in scoring, rebounding and assists. His .520 mark from behind the arc is third in the BIG EAST.
 
ON THE CLIMB: For the second consecutive week, the Bulldogs are ranked No. 13 in both national polls. Butler cracked the Top 25 for the first time this season in the Nov. 28 polls. Butler has now been ranked in the Top 25 in nine of the last 11 seasons.
 
VALUE THE BALL: Butler committed only 10 turnovers in its last game against Vermont. The visiting Catamounts had only nine turnovers, marking the first time this season that Butler had more turnovers than its opponent. Butler had posted a season-low six turnovers in back-to-back wins over Cincinnati and Indiana. On the season, the Bulldogs are averaging only 9.9 turnovers per game. That mark is fifth nationally.
 
Butler's turnover margin of 5.0 leads the BIG EAST and is 15^th nationally. Butler's assist/turnover margin of 1.50 is second in the BIG EAST and 17^th in the NCAA.
 
HELPING HAND: Tyler Lewis has led the team in assists in nine of Butler's 12 games this season. He has registered at least four assists in all but two contests. Lewis's 5.4 assists per game rank third in the BIG EAST and 52nd nationally.
 
Lewis's seven assists against Vermont were just one off his season-high. For the season, he has 65 assists and only 16 turnovers. His 4.06 assist/turnover ratio leads the BIG EAST and is eighth in the NCAA.
 
BEHIND THE ARC: The Bulldogs are shooting an impressive .399 mark from three-point range this season. That includes making 33-of-69 (.478) over the past four games.
 
FINDING A RHYTHM: Andrew Chrabascz is averaging 18.0 points per game over Butler's last four contests. In the first eight games of the season which led into the four-game stretch, Chrabascz was averaging 10.0 points per game.
 
Chrabascz has led the Bulldogs in scoring in two of the team's last four contests. The senior had led the team in scoring in eight of his first 102 career games leading into that stretch.
 
BATTLE OF THE BOARDS: After out-rebounding its first five opponents of the season, Butler's opponents have pulled down more boards in five of the team's last seven contests.
 
Kelan Martin had a season-high eight rebounds against Vermont. It was his third time leading the Bulldogs in rebounding this season and the 18^th occurrence of his career.