GAME 30: rv/rv Bulldogs (19-10, 9-7 BIG EAST) vs. St. John's (14-15, 3-13)
Wednesday, Feb. 28  |  9 p.m. ET  
Queens, N.Y.  |  Carnesecca Arena
TV: CBS Sports Network  |  Brent Stover, Wally Szczerbiak & Jamie Erdahl
Radio: 93.1 FM & TuneIn Radio App  |  @MarkMinner & @n_gardner 
@ButlerMBB  |  ButlerSports.com

Full Notes (PDF)

THE SERIES: Butler and St. John's will meet for the 11th time. Butler holds a 6-4 advantage in the all-time series, winning six of the last seven match-ups. The teams first met in the 1958 NIT with St. John's posting a 76-69 win in that contest. All of the remaining match-ups have come since Butler joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season.
 
Butler defeated the Red Storm, 70-45, at Hinkle Fieldhouse Jan. 27. The teams split the 2016-17 season series with each winning on its home court.
 
• Tyler Wideman posted a career-best 11 rebounds in the win over St. John's Jan. 27. Wideman had 20 points at St. John's Dec. 29, 2016, the second-best output of his career. 
• Wideman leads the BIG EAST with a 67.7-percent field goal percentage. He is on pace to break Butler's single-season and career marks.
• Kelan Martin is averaging 18.2 points per game in his last five games against St. John's.
• Martin leads the BIG EAST at 23.3 points per game in conference play. Martin has scored 20 or more points in 11 of the Bulldogs' 16 BIG EAST contests.
• Martin is averaging 26.2ppg over his last six games.
• Kamar Baldwin is averaging 22.4 points per game in Butler's seven BIG EAST road games.
• Butler is now 17-0 this season when shooting a better field goal percentage than its opponent.
• In the win over Creighton, the Bulldogs received 43 points from the team's bench, a high for BIG EAST play this season.
• Butler is shooting 78 percent at the free throw line this season, Top 15 nationally.
• The Bulldogs are averaging only 11.2 turnovers on the season, which is second in the BIG EAST.
 
SETTING THE SCENE: Butler, which last played eight days ago, returns to action Wednesday night at St. John's. The Bulldogs have two road games left on the BIG EAST schedule and are one of four teams who enter the conference's final week with a 9-7 league mark.
 
FIRST TIME AROUND: Butler used a fast start to cruise to a 70-45 win over visiting St. John's Jan. 27. The Bulldogs built a 19-2 lead less than eight minutes in after hitting eight of their first 12 attempts from the field. St. John's countered with a 1-12 start to the game.
  
Butler's defensive effort was so strong that the Bulldogs posted a 25-point win despite shooting only 40 percent from the field, the team's second-worst shooting performance this season in BIG EAST play. The Red Storm were limited to 29-percent shooting, including 5-of-27 in the first half.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Butler sent its two seniors out in style with an emphatic 93-70 win over Creighton Feb. 20 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler's win came in the final home game for Kelan Martin and Tyler Wideman.
 
The Bulldogs went 14-of-26 from three-point range and committed only nine turnovers in the contest. Butler made seven straight three-point attempts during the middle of the first half that contributed to a 42-22 lead with 4:26 to play. Butler scored the first five points of the second half and the lead was 20 once again with 13:45 to play. Creighton would get no closer than 14 points after that point. Butler shot 54 percent from the field.
  
Butler is now 17-0 this season when shooting a better field goal percentage than its opponent.
 
'KEY' TO VICTORY: Senior Kelan Martin had 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting against Creighton in the team's most recent outing. He made five of his seven three-point attempts and had a game-high seven rebounds. Martin, who leads the conference in scoring in BIG EAST play, posted 20+ points for the 18^th time this season and the 11^th time in 16 conference games. Eighteen of his points came in the second half as Butler ran away with the game.
 
Martin's BIG EAST-leading average of 23.3 points per game in conference play trails only Trae Young (28.8ppg, Oklahoma/Big 12) and Jerome Robinson (25.0ppg, Boston College/ACC) among players from the top-ranked seven conferences nationally (BIG EAST, Big 12, ACC, Big Ten, SEC, Pac-12, American).
 
(NOT SO) SECOND UNIT: In the win over Creighton, the Bulldogs received 43 points from the team's bench. That output is the team's best in BIG EAST play and the second-most for a game this season. Paul Jorgensen had 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Nate Fowler posted a season-best 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Jorgensen, Fowler and Henry Baddley (who had nine points) combined to go 7-of-9 from three-point range in the game.
 
ON THE DEFENSIVE: The Bulldogs' defense limited Creighton to 70 points Feb. 20 in the team's most recent game, 15.4 points below the Bluejays' season average. Creighton's Marcus Foster entered the game averaging 20.0 points per game. Butler forced him into 5-of-15 shooting and only 13 points.
 
That was Butler's second straight strong defensive effort. The 54 points by Providence Feb. 17 were the second-lowest of the season for a Butler opponent in BIG EAST play. The Friars shot only 30 percent (18-60) from the field, which was the third-lowest mark for a Butler opponent this season. Providence scored only 19 points in the second half while shooting 16 percent (5-32).

The Providence trio of Rodney Bullock, Jalen Lindsay and Kyron Cartwright combined for 11 points on 3-of-23 shooting; they entered the game averaging a combined 36.1 points per game.
 
CALMING THE STORM: The 45 points scored by St. John's in Butler's 70-45 win over the Red Storm Jan. 27 were the fewest allowed by the Bulldogs in BIG EAST play this season. Tariq Owens led St. John's with 13 points and nine rebounds. The Red Storm's other four starters each entered the game averaging double figures. None of the four hit the mark. Butler's defense limited Shamorie Ponds to two points on 0-for-12 shooting. He entered the contest averaging 20.0 points per game.
 
Butler is 13-1 this season when allowing its opponent less than 70 points.
 
HOME, SWEET HINKLE: Butler finished the home portion of its schedule with a 14-3 mark. At Hinkle Fieldhouse this season, the Bulldogs averaged 86.0 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the field. Butler reached 80 points in 14 of the 17 games. Butler is averaging 72.3 ppg on 43-percent shooting away from Hinkle.
 
Butler hit 80 points for the 16^th time this season with the 93-70 win over Creighton in the team's most recent game. The Bulldogs are now 13-3 when scoring 80 or more.
 
YOU WANT THEM ON THAT LINE; YOU NEED THEM ON THAT LINE: Butler went 14-for-18 (78 percent) at the free throw line Feb. 17 against Providence. That was actually below the team's season average. Butler has shot 80 percent or better from the line 14 times this season, including six of the last nine games. As a team, Butler is shooting 78 percent from the free throw line this season. That percentage improves to 80 percent in BIG EAST play. Butler is in the Top 15 nationally in free throw shooting.
 
At 87.7 percent, Kelan Martin is third in the BIG EAST in free throw shooting.
 
BEHIND THE ARC: The Bulldogs went 14-of-26 from three-point range in the win over Creighton. It marked the ninth time this season that Butler hit 10 or more three-pointers, with six of those coming in the team's last nine games. The Bulldogs have shot 40 percent or better from behind the arc 11 times this season; six of those have come in the team's last nine games.
 
MORE ON MARTIN: Kelan Martin has 1,909 career points, which puts him in the No. 5 spot on Butler's career scoring list. In 70 BIG EAST games, Martin has registered 1,049 career points. He is one of only 42 players who have scored 1,000 career points in regular season BIG EAST games. His 205 career three-pointers are sixth on Butler's career list.
 
Martin is the first Bulldog with back-to-back 30-point scoring performances (vs. Xavier and Villanova, Feb. 6 and Feb. 10) since Matthew Graves in 1997-98. Martin's career-high 37 points against Marquette Jan. 12 were the most by a Bulldog since Graves scored 42 against Cleveland State on Jan. 15, 1998.
 
For the second consecutive season, Martin has been named one of 10 finalists for the Julius Erving Award, which is presented annually to the nation's top small forward.
 
At 20.9 points per game, Martin is on pace for the highest single-season scoring average since Darin Archbold averaged 24.8 in 1991-92.
 
TIGHT GRIP: The Bulldogs committed only nine turnovers in the win over Creighton. The Bulldogs are averaging only 11.2 turnovers on the season, which is second in the BIG EAST. That number drops to 10.2 per game in BIG EAST play, also second in the BIG EAST. Butler has nine games this season when the Bulldogs have committed single-digit turnovers; seven of those have come in BIG EAST play.
 
IN THE TRENCHES: Butler is +50 in points in the paint over its last three games. That includes a 42-28 advantage over Creighton. Butler has out-rebounded its last two opponents. The Bulldogs are 14-3 (and 6-2 in BIG EAST play) when out-rebounding their opponent this season.
 
TOPPING THE CHARTS: Tyler Wideman leads the BIG EAST in field goal percentage in both all games (.677) and in conference play (.671). Kamar Baldwin's average of 1.7 steals per game is third in the conference.
 
SMART DAWG: Butler junior Nate Fowler has been selected to the 2017-18 CoSIDA Academic All-District Team. Fowler is one of five honorees for the district that includes Division I universities based in the states of Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan. The 2017-18 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District® Men's Basketball Team recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. Fowler carries a 3.56 GPA in Butler's Mechanical Engineering and Economics dual degree program.