The BIG EAST Tournament begins Wednesday at Madison Square Garden; Butler and Providence will meet in the opening game of the tournament in the No. 8 seed vs. No. 9 seed contest. Butler and Providence split two regular season match-ups, with each winning on its home floor. Wednesday's winner will play top-seeded St. John's in Thursday's quarterfinals.
 
Butler (13-18, No. 9 Seed) vs. Providence (12-19, No. 8 Seed)
BIG EAST Tournament First Round
Wednesday, March 12 • 4PM
Madison Square Garden • New York City
 
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• Jahmyl Telfort averaged 20.5 points per game in the two meetings with Providence this season, while Pierre Brooks II averaged 17.5 points per contest against the Friars.
• Telfort earned All-BIG EAST Third Team honors, as announced by the conference Sunday.
• Telfort's scoring average of 16.2 points per game ranks eighth in the BIG EAST. Telfort is among the BIG EAST leaders in scoring, assists (11th), field goal percentage (seventh), free throw percentage (seventh), and minutes played (fourth).
• Butler enters the game off an 87-74 loss at Creighton Saturday in the regular season finale.
• Butler committed only one turnover in Saturday's contest at Creighton. Villanova also had only a single turnover in their Dec. 21 game at Creighton. Prior to the two occurrences this season, the last BIG EAST team to have only one turnover in a game was Louisville, which had one turnover Feb. 7, 2007 against Georgetown (Rick Pitino was the coach of that Louisville team).
• Telfort has scored 502 points this season, putting him just outside the Top 25 in Butler program history for points scored in a single season (535 points ranks 25th).
• The Bulldogs committed a season-low five fouls at Creighton Saturday; Butler ranks 15th in the country at only 13.7 fouls per game.
• Butler is 9-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points, including all six of their BIG EAST wins.
• Butler has shot at least 50 percent from the field in each of its six BIG EAST wins.
• Telfort went over 2,000 career points in the Feb. 26 game against St. John's. Telfort currently is 15th in career scoring among active players who have spent their entire collegiate careers at Division I schools. 
• On the season, Butler ranks 39th nationally in three-point percentage (37.1), while allowing opponents to shoot only 31.6 percent from behind the arc, a figure that is 68th nationally. 
• Butler's season-long free throw accuracy of 74.6 percent is 91st nationally; the Bulldogs have been even better over the last four games (a combined 47-for-55 for 85 percent).
• Butler attempted a season-low six free throws Saturday at Creighton, making a season-low five. On the season, the Bulldogs average 15.7 made free throws per game, which is 63rd nationally.
• Patrick McCaffery scored 19 points Saturday at Creighton; it marked his fourth-best scoring output in a game this season; McCaffery is shooting 9-for-20 (45 percent) from three-point range over his last three games, making a trio of three-pointers in each one.
• McCaffery has hit multiple three-pointers in 20 games this season.
• Pierre Brooks II has eight 20-point games on the season, most recently leading Butler with 24 points in the Feb. 22 win at DePaul.
• Andre Screen is eighth in the BIG EAST in blocks and tenth in rebounding.
• The Bulldogs defeated Northwestern and No. 25 Mississippi State in taking the Arizona Tip-Off title over Thanksgiving.
 
At The Garden
• Three of the match-ups between Providence and Butler have been part of the BIG EAST Tournament as the Friars picked up wins in 2016, 2019 and 2022.
• Butler's best performance in the BIG EAST Tournament was a semifinals appearance in 2018.
• The Bulldogs captured the 2006 Preseason NIT at Madison Square Garden, posting wins over Tennessee and Gonzaga.
 
The First Two Match-ups
• Butler and Providence split the two regular season match-ups with each winning on its home floor.
• Providence made a total of 26 three-pointers in the two games, which included 16 against the Bulldogs in Butler's Feb. 8 win at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
• The winning team had a significant rebounding advantage in both games: Providence held a 43-26 edge in their Jan. 8 win, while Butler out-rebounded the Friars, 34-24, in the Feb. 8 win.
 
The Series with The Friars
• All 27 meetings in the series have come since Butler joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season.
 
Series: Providence Leads, 20-7
Streak: Butler, W1
At MSG: Providence Leads, 3-0
First Meeting: Jan. 21, 2014; Providence, 65-56 (at PC)
Last Meeting: Feb. 8, 2025; Butler, 82-81 (at BU)