Opponent: St. John's
Specifics: Wednesday, Feb. 15  |  8:30 p.m. ET  |  Hinkle Fieldhouse  |  Indianapolis, Ind.
TV: FS1  |  Vince Welch & Jordan Cornette
Radio: 107.5 FM (also streamed through TuneIn Radio App)  |  Mark Minner (play-by-play) & Nick Gardner (analyst)
Follow Along: @ButlerMBB
Follow Along: Still available through the Butler Athletics Ticket Office

Full Notes (PDF)

WELCOME HOME: Butler returns to Hinkle Fieldhouse for the first of two consecutive games when St. John's visits Wednesday night. The 8:30 p.m. tip will air nationally on FS1. The Bulldogs are 19-6 on the season and are 8-5 in BIG EAST play. St. John's enters at 12-14 (6-7 BIG EAST). Butler has three home games remaining this season with the contest against St. John's as the only one with tickets still available.  
 
THE SERIES: Butler and St. John's will meet for the ninth time with Wednesday's match-up. Each team has four wins in the series. The teams first met in the 1958 NIT with St. John's posting a 76-69 win in that contest. Once Butler joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season, the Red Storm won the first two meetings before Butler took four straight over the past two seasons. St. John's won the first meeting between the teams this season, 76-73, Dec. 29 in the BIG EAST opener for both teams.
 
FIRST TIME AROUND: St. John's knocked off Butler, 76-73, Dec. 29 in Queens, N.Y. Shamorie Ponds and Bashir Ahmed combined for 45 points for the host Red Storm. After Tyler Wideman's putback gave the Bulldogs a 71-69 lead with a minute to play, St. John's would hit several free throws down the stretch and come up with a key offensive rebound off their own missed free throw to win a frantic game decided in the final minute. St. John's shot 54 percent in the game. Wideman led four Bulldogs in double figures with a career-high 20 points. Butler's lead climbed to 10 with 10:34 to play as an Avery Woodson three-pointer capped an 11-2 Butler run. That was when St. John's began to chip away.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Providence used a late rally and 9-of-19 shooting from behind the arc to defeat Butler, 71-65, Saturday afternoon in Rhode Island. Butler led for much of the game and held its last advantage at 51-50 with seven minutes to play. Providence hit free throws down the stretch as Butler was held scoreless from the 2:28 mark until a Kethan Savage three-pointer with eight seconds to play.
 
CAREER DAY: Sophomore Nate Fowler came off the bench to lead the Bulldogs with 19 points Saturday at Providence. The 6-10 center went 7-of-9 from the field, including 3-of-3 from three-point range. All of those figures, in addition to his 23 minutes played, were career-highs. It was the third double-figure scoring performance of Fowler's career and his second time pacing the Bulldogs in scoring. His 5.2 points per game average is eighth on the Butler roster this season.
 
IN SEARCH OF 20: With a win Wednesday, Butler would capture its 11th 20-win season in the last 12 years. The Bulldogs have previously posted 20 or more wins on 21 occasions. Seventeen of those 20-win seasons have come since 1996-97.
 
EARLY LOOK: For the first time, the NCAA Men's Basketball Committee revealed its top 16 seeds in a midseason preview for fans. The seeds were announced Saturday, Feb. 11. Butler was announced as the No. 13 overall seed (the equivalent of being the top No. 4 seed in the bracket).
 
STRONG RESUME: In Monday's RPI rankings released by the NCAA, the Bulldogs come in at No. 12. Butler has a record of 15-4 against teams currently ranked in the RPI Top 100. Those 15 wins against the Top 100 are tied with Villanova for the most in the nation (through the games of Sunday, Feb. 12).
 
Butler is now 5-2 against ranked teams this season, including a 4-1 mark against teams that were ranked in the Top 15 at the time of the contest. Butler owns wins this season against five teams that are currently leading their respective league standings: Villanova (BIG EAST), Vermont (America East), Cincinnati (tied in the loss column; American), Arizona (Pac-12), and Bucknell (Patriot).
 
BIG EAST BREAKDOWN: The Bulldogs (8-5) currently stand alone in fourth place in the BIG EAST standings (through the games of Monday, Feb. 13). Villanova leads the league at 12-2, while Xavier and Creighton are each tied for second at 8-4. Butler's Wednesday opponent, St. John's, is 6-7, tied for the fifth spot with Marquette. Teams 5-9 are separated by only one game in the standings as we enter the final three weeks of BIG EAST play leading into the 2017 BIG EAST Tournament.
 
MAGIC NUMBER: The Bulldogs held Marquette to 65 points in a road win Feb. 7. Butler is now 15-0 on the season when holding its opponent to less than 70 points. The Bulldogs are 4-6 on the season when their opponent scores 70 or more. Butler is allowing an average of 67.6 points per game through the first 25 games of the season. That is third in the BIG EAST. That average increases to 71.1 points per game in league play, but that is actually the second-best mark in the BIG EAST.
 
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD: Freshman Kamar Baldwin pulled down a career-best 11 rebounds Saturday at Providence. It was the fourth time this season that the 6-0 guard has led the team in rebounding. The 11 rebounds match Kelan Martin's output from the Jan. 25 game at Seton Hall for the high mark for a Butler player so far this season.
 
Butler out-rebounded Providence, 37-32, in the Saturday contest. It marked only the second time this season that Butler had pulled down more rebounds than its opponent…and lost. On the season, Butler is 12-2 when out-rebounding its opponent.
 
ELDER STATESMEN: Butler's seniors scored 51 of the team's 68 points in the 68-65 win over Marquette Feb. 7 in Milwaukee. Andrew Chrabascz led the Bulldogs with 21 points, while Avery Woodson added 17. Butler shot 49 percent in the game.
 
NOT TOO CHRABBY: Andrew Chrabascz's game-high 21 points Feb. 7 vs. Marquette came via an 8-of-11 shooting performance from the field. In one of the most well-rounded games by a Bulldog this season, Chrabascz added five rebounds, a career-high five steals, and four assists to his 21 points. It was Chrabascz's second 20-point game of the season and the sixth of his career. Chrabascz has led the Bulldogs in scoring five times this season and 13 times in his career.
 
Chrabascz ranks second on the team in scoring, assists and steals this season, and third in rebounding.
 
BUTLER HIGHS: In his first season with the Bulldogs, graduate student Avery Woodson has played a pivotal role for Butler. In the Feb. 7 win at Marquette, Woodson posted a season-best 17 points with 15 of those points coming in the first half as Butler built an early lead. Woodson is fourth on the team in scoring, posting double figures on seven occasions.
 
Woodson tied his season-high with six rebounds at Marquette. It marked the third time this season that Woodson had pulled down six rebounds, with each coming in a hard-fought road win (at Georgetown in overtime, at DePaul in overtime, and Feb. 7's three-point win at Marquette).
 
WHEN IT MATTERS MOST: Kethan Savage had 13 points Saturday at Providence, his ninth time in double figures in the team's 13 BIG EAST games. Savage is averaging 11.2 points per game against BIG EAST opponents, the third-best mark on the team.
Savage, in his first season at Butler, picked up his second consecutive start in a Bulldog uniform Saturday at Providence. Prior to the last two games, the senior had last started a game on Feb. 14, 2015 (for George Washington).
 
IN THE POLLS: The Bulldogs are ranked No. 24 in the AP poll and No. 25 the USA Today coaches poll this week. Butler has been ranked each week since the Nov. 28, 2016 polls.
 
STOPPING A SKID: Following a loss, the Bulldogs are now 21-4 under coach Chris Holtmann. That includes a 4-1 mark this season, a mark that the Bulldogs will look to improve upon Wednesday.
 
PROTECTING THE ROCK: On the season, the Bulldogs are averaging only 10.1 turnovers per game. That mark is fifth nationally. Butler had a season-low four turnovers – including none in the second half – against Marquette Jan. 16. The Bulldogs have posted 10 or fewer miscues in 12 games this season, including only six in the overtime game at DePaul Jan. 21.
 
Butler's turnover margin of +3.5 leads the BIG EAST and is 16th nationally. Butler is 10-2 this season when committing 10 or fewer turnovers.
 
WINNING THE CLOSE ONES: The Bulldogs are 6-3 this season in games decided by five points or less. Butler is also 2-0 in overtime games.