The Bulldogs return to Hinkle Fieldhouse to host BIG EAST-leading and No. 7-ranked St. John's Wednesday night. The contest marks the eighth game of the season for Butler against a Top 25 team. Butler has won four of its last five games; after starting the BIG EAST season 0-6, the Bulldogs are 6-4 over its last 10 BIG EAST contests.
 
Butler (13-14, 6-10 BIG EAST) vs. #7/7 St. John's (24-4, 15-2)
Wednesday, Feb. 26 • 9PM
Hinkle Fieldhouse • Indianapolis, Ind.
 
TV: CBS Sports Network • Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas & Jon Rothstein
Butler Basketball Live (Audio) with @MarkMinner & Nick Gardner (@n_gardner): Varsity Network App, SiriusXM 389, XM App 979 & TuneIn
 
• St. John's won the first match-up between the teams, 70-62, Jan. 4 in Queens, N.Y.
• Butler enters the game off an 84-72 road win at DePaul Saturday night. 
• Butler is 9-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points, including all six of their BIG EAST wins.
• The Bulldogs shot 52 percent from the field in Saturday's win at DePaul; Butler has shot at least 50 percent from the field in each of its six BIG EAST wins.
• Pierre Brooks II led the Bulldogs with 24 points in Saturday's win.
• Brooks made nine of his 15 attempts from the field in the win over DePaul; he is shooting 58 percent (45-for-78) from the field over his last six games.
• Finley Bizjack scored 16 points at DePaul, his eighth double-figure scoring outing in the team's last nine games; Bizjack is shooting 27-for-49 (55 percent) from three-point range over those nine games with multiple made three-pointers in each game; he is averaging 14.6 points per game during that stretch.
• Butler tied a season-low by committing only four turnovers in the win at DePaul.
• The Bulldogs went 10-for-24 from three-point range in Saturday's win at DePaul; it was Butler's seventh game this season with at least 10 made three-pointers (three of those occurrences have come in Butler's last five games).
• Butler is shooting 37.4 percent from three-point range on the season, a mark that is 31st nationally. Butler has shot better than 40 percent from three-point range in four of the team's last five games.
• Butler is committing only 13.9 fouls per game, which is the 16th-fewest nationally.
• Butler is allowing opponents to shoot only 30.4 percent from three-point range, a defensive effort that leads the BIG EAST and is 34th nationally. 
• Butler has led at the half in 11 of the team's 16 BIG EAST games (and was tied in one of the other five games).
• The Bulldogs have only been out-rebounded once in the team's last 10 games (Butler has seven games in that stretch with a rebounding advantage and there are two games where the teams have tied on the glass).
• Jahmyl Telfort handed out six assists at DePaul Saturday, his ninth game this season with five or more assists. 
• Telfort led the Bulldogs with 20 points at Xavier Feb. 18; it marked his tenth 20-point game of the season and the 12th time he has led the team in scoring this season.
• Boden Kapke pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds in the game at Xavier; it was the second game of his Butler career with double-digit rebounds.
• Patrick McCaffery has hit multiple three-pointers in 17 games this season.
• Butler went 28-for-35 (80 percent) from the free throw line against Georgetown Feb. 15; the 28 makes were the most by Butler in exactly eight years (when the team made 29 in a Feb. 15, 2017 win over St. John's). Butler's season average of 16.3 made free throws per game is 42nd nationally.
• The Bulldogs defeated Northwestern and No. 25 Mississippi State in taking the Arizona Tip-Off title over Thanksgiving.
 
BIG in the BIG EAST
• In BIG EAST games only, Butler offensively ranks second in points scored (75.4 points per game) and first in field goal percentage (making 47.5 percent of attempts from the field).
• On the defensive end, Butler's three-point percentage defense in BIG EAST games only is leads the conference as Bulldog opponents are hitting only 30.6 percent of their attempts from behind the arc.
 
Connection Points
• Butler's Kolby King started his collegiate career at St. John's, playing his freshman season (2022-23) for the Red Storm.
• St. John's radio play-by-play voice John Minko is a 1975 graduate of Butler.
• Butler men's basketball strength and conditioning coach Tyler Watson worked with the St. John's program during the 2021-22 season before arriving at Butler in 2022.
 
First Time Around
• St. John's pulled away in the closing minutes, taking a 70-62 win over Butler Jan. 4 at Carnesecca Arena.
• The game was tied 55-55 with 5:05 to play before St. John's closed the game by scoring 15 of the final 22 points. That included making nine free throws down the stretch.
• St. John's forced Butler into a season-worst 21 turnovers, turning those into 19 points and a majority of their 27 fast-break points.
• The Bulldogs went only 9-for-20 (45 percent) from the free throw line, while St. John's made 17 of their 23 attempts.
• Butler's defense held St. John's to 37-percent shooting, including only 1-for-21 from three-point range.
 
Read About the Red Storm
• St. John's is among the Top 10 nationally in several categories, including blocks (5.7 per game; sixth), offensive rebounds (14.7 per game, sixth), turnover margin (+4.7; eighth) and turnovers forced (15.9 per game; tenth).
• RJ Luis is fourth in the BIG EAST in scoring at 17.4 points per game; he has eight double-doubles on the season. Zuby Ejiofor is second nationally, averaging 4.2 offensive rebounds per game.
 
The Series with St. John's
• All but one meeting in the series has come since Butler joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season.
• That first meeting came in the 1958 NIT (a 78-68 St. John's win). Tony Hinkle coached Butler in that game. Lou Carnesecca would join the St. John's staff as an assistant coach the next season.
 
Series: St. John's Leads, 14-11
Streak: St. John's, W4
At Hinkle: Butler Leads, 8-3
First Meeting: March 13, 1958; St. John's, 78-68 (NIT; MSG)
Last Meeting: Jan. 4, 2025; St. John's, 70-62 (at SJU)