Butler (13-13, 6-9 BIG EAST) at St. John's (14-11, 6-8 BIG EAST)
Friday, Feb. 18;  5PM
Carnesecca Arena; Queens, N.Y.
TV:  CBS Sports Network - Tom McCarthy, Pete Gillen & Jon Rothstein
Radio:  1430AM - @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner)
Varsity Network Radio App, XM380, SiriusXM App 970
 
Full Notes (PDF)
 
The Bulldogs make their second trip of the season to Queens, N.Y. Butler and St. John's were scheduled to play Dec. 23 before COVID issues within the Red Storm program forced the postponement of the game several hours prior to tip.
 
Friday's tip is the second game of a three-contest week for the Bulldogs, which will see the team return to Indianapolis for a Sunday home game against Top 10 Providence.
 
THE SERIES: Butler owns a 10-8 advantage in the all-time series. All but one match-up (which came in the 1958 NIT) have been played since Butler joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season.
 
Butler Leads, 10-8
Streak: St. John's, W1
At St. John's: St. John's Leads, 5-3
LaVall Jordan (at BU) vs. SJU: 5-4
First Meeting: St. John's, 78-68; 3/13/58 (NIT)
Last Meeting: St. John's, 75-72, 2/5/22 (at Hinkle)
 
• Simas Lukosius scored a career-high 19 points in Tuesday's win at DePaul.
• All six of Lukosius's double-digit scoring games have come against BIG EAST opponents and the Bulldogs are 5-1 in those games.
• Chuck Harris's 18 points at DePaul came on only seven shots from the field.
• After eight first-half turnovers, the Bulldogs committed only two miscues over the second 20 minutes at DePaul.
• Butler went 18-for-21 at the free throw line at DePaul and the .857 percentage matched the team's second-best performance of the season at the stripe.
• The Bulldogs shot 50 percent at DePaul, the sixth game this season that Butler has shot 50 percent or better from the field.
• Bryce Nze (knee) and Bo Hodges (muscle strain) missed the DePaul game and will be gametime decisions for Friday's tip at St. John's.
• Aaron Thompson is now Butler's leader in career assists; he broke Thomas Jackson's record (540) Saturday vs. Marquette.
• Butler had five players in double figures vs. Marquette, the first time that has happened since Dec. 23, 2020 vs. Providence.
• Butler's 85 points vs. Marquette tied for the team's season-high.
• The Bulldogs' 13 three-pointers were a season-high and the most since hitting 13 at DePaul Jan. 16, 2019.
• Bryce Golden scored a career-best 22 points Saturday vs. Marquette; it marked the third 20-point game of his career.
• Butler has won the rebounding margin in five of the last seven games; Butler is 9-2 this season when winning the glass.
• According to KenPom, Butler has played the 20th-toughest schedule in the nation so far this season; nine of Butler's 13 losses have come to teams currently ranked among the Top 30 in the NCAA NET metric.
• Thompson (149) is now tenth on Butler's career steals list.
• Eight different Bulldogs have led the team in scoring this season.
• Lukosius has made 34 of his last 36 free throw attempts and is shooting 89 percent from the charity stripe on the season.
 
FIRST TIME AROUND: St. John's used a 21-of-25 performance at the free throw line and several late stops to come away with a 75-72 win over Butler Feb. 5 at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
Julian Champagnie led the Red Storm with 21 points and went 9-for-10 from the free throw line. The Red Storm shot 48 percent from the field, but only 2-for-16 from three-point range. St. John's committed only six turnovers.
 
The game featured 11 ties and 13 lead changes with the final tie coming 68-68 with 2:41 to play. The Red Storm's final seven points came at the free throw line (in eight attempts) as they didn't attempt a shot from the field in that final stretch.
 
Butler went 10-for-28 from behind the three-point line and shot 52 percent from the field overall. The Bulldogs only attempted five free throws.
 
Bo Hodges led the Bulldogs with 22 points on 9-for-14 shooting. The 22 points were the most for Hodges in a Butler uniform and included a career-high four three-pointers.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Butler made its final six attempts from the field, including a contested Simas Lukosius banked-in three-pointer with six seconds remaining, to take a 73-71 win over DePaul Tuesday night at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
 
The freshman Lukosius finished with a career-high 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Butler was able to erase a nine-point second-half lead by the Blue Demons in a game that featured seven ties and 13 lead changes.
 
The Bulldogs played without starters Bo Hodges (muscle strain) and Bryce Nze (knee), who both sustained injuries in Saturday's win over Marquette.
 
Butler shot 50 percent from the field, but only 5-for-19 from three-point range. But over the closing minutes, the Bulldogs were able to make three of their final five attempts from behind the arc, the first of that stretch coming from Lukosius with 9:02 to play as Butler first encountered a nine-point DePaul lead.
 
Lukosius and fellow freshman Jayden Taylor combined to score 14 of Butler's final 15 points as DePaul led 63-58 with four minutes to play to begin that stretch.
 
TOUGH SLATE: In addition to a true round-robin format that has Butler playing all 10 BIG EAST foes both on the road and at home, the Bulldogs challenged themselves significantly with this season's non-conference schedule.
 
Butler's non-conference opponents include three of the top 20 teams in this week's AP poll (No. 5 Purdue -- Crossroads Classic, No. 19 Michigan State -- Gavitt Games, and No. 14 Houston -- Maui Invitational in Las Vegas).
 
TWO TIMES FOR THE FIRST YEAR: Simas Lukosius was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week Jan. 31 following an impressive 2-0 week for the Bulldogs. This is the second weekly conference honor for the Lithuanian, who also was recognized on Jan. 3.
 
Lukosius averaged 13.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in the team's two contests. In the Jan. 26 win over Creighton, Lukosius scored 14 points and went 6-for-6 from the free throw line. He was the team's leading scorer in the Jan. 29 win over Georgetown, recording 13 points. He shot 45 percent from three-point range in the team's two games.
 
QUITE THE BATTLE: As part of the annual BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle, the Bulldogs picked up a 66-62 overtime road win Dec. 7 at Oklahoma. Chuck Harris led the Bulldogs with 26 points. Butler trailed by 10 points at the half and by 13 early in the second half before clawing all the way back. After Oklahoma forced overtime with a three-pointer with two seconds remaining in regulation, the Sooners took a 62-58 lead in overtime before Butler scored the game's final eight points.
 
ON THE WAY: Connor Turnbull, a 6-10 forward/center from Missouri, has signed a national letter of intent to join the Bulldogs beginning with the 2022-23 season.
 
Turnbull, from Saint Paul, Mo., stars for Fort Zumwalt North High School, where he earned Missouri Basketball Coaches Association All-State honors for Class 6. As a junior, Turnbull averaged 14.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.0 blocks per game, leading the team to a 27-4 record and the Class 6 state semifinals. He shot 34 percent from three-point range. Turnbull helped Brad Beal Elite to a runner-up finish at the 2021 Peach Jam as part of the Nike EYBL circuit.
 
BULLDOGS ANNOUNCED AS PART OF 2022 BATTLE 4 ATLANTIS FIELD: The Bulldogs will participate in the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis for the third time as the 2022 bracket has been announced. Celebrating its 11th year of elite collegiate tournament play, the 2022 field will include Butler, BYU, Dayton, Kansas, North Carolina State, USC, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. Butler was previously part of the Battle 4 Atlantis field in both 2014 and 2018. The Bulldogs went 2-1 in each event.