The BIG EAST Tournament continues Thursday at Madison Square Garden; Butler will face off against No. 1 seed St. John's in the first quarterfinal of the day. The Bulldogs advanced with a first-round victory over Providence Wednesday; Butler won the game, 75-69. St. John's won both regular season match-ups between the two teams.  
 
Butler (14-18, No. 9 Seed) vs. No. 6/5 St. John's (27-4, No. 1 Seed)
BIG EAST Tournament Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 13 • 12PM
Madison Square Garden • New York City
 
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• Pierre Brooks II led the Bulldogs with 25 points against Providence; his 11 made field goals set a career-high and tied the season-high for a Butler player.
• Brooks has nine 20-point games on the season.
• Butler limited Providence to 38-percent shooting; Butler's defense also accounted for a season-high 10 steals as the Friars committed 13 turnovers, which tied the season-high for a Butler opponent.
• Jahmyl Telfort scored 16 points in the win over Providence Wednesday.
• Landon Moore came off the bench to chip in nine points for the Bulldogs; he entered the game shooting 3-for-24 (13 percent) from three-point range this season, but connected on two of his three three-point attempts against Providence Wednesday.
• Brooks and Telfort are in their respective second seasons at Butler; in 65 games played for Butler, Brooks has 983 career points while Telfort has 977 career points.
• Butler was able to overcome a 53-29 rebounding disadvantage against Providence Wednesday; the Friars had 25 offensive rebounds, but were able to convert those into only 18 second-chance points.
• Telfort earned All-BIG EAST Third Team honors, as announced by the conference Sunday.
• At the conclusion of the regular season, Telfort was among the BIG EAST leaders in a number of categories: scoring average (eighth), assists (11th), field goal percentage (seventh), free throw percentage (seventh), and minutes played (fourth).
• Butler had only six turnovers Wednesday against Providence; over the last six games, Butler is averaging only 6.8 turnovers per game.
• 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 518 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; entering the BIG EAST Tournament, Butler ranked 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. 
• Patrick McCaffery scored 19 points Saturday at Creighton; it marked his fourth-best scoring output in a game this season; McCaffery has hit multiple three-pointers in 20 games this season.
• Entering the BI G EAST Tournament, Andre Screen ranked 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
• The first meeting in the Butler-St. John's series came in the 1958 NIT (a 78-68 St. John's win). That was also Butler's first game playing at Madison Square Garden. Tony Hinkle coached Butler in that game. Lou Carnesecca would join the St. John's staff as an assistant coach the next season.
• Butler and St. John's have played once in the BIG EAST Tournament, a 76-63 Red Storm win in the 2023 bracket.
• The Bulldogs captured the 2006 Preseason NIT at Madison Square Garden, posting wins over Tennessee and Gonzaga.
• Butler's best performance in the BIG EAST Tournament was a semifinals appearance in 2018.
 
The First Two Match-ups
• St. John's won both regular season games against Butler this season: Jan. 4 at Carnesecca Arena (70-62) and Feb. 26 at Hinkle Fieldhouse (76-70).
• The Jan. 4 game saw St. John's force Butler into 21 turnovers; the Red Storm went only 1-for-21 from three-point range in that game.
• In the Feb. 26 match-up, St. John's shot 49 percent from the field, while limiting Butler to only a 39-percent clip.
 
A Quick Breakdown of St. John's
• St. John's is among the national leaders in several categories, including blocks (5.4 per game; tenth), offensive rebounds (14.7 per game, second), steals (9.3 per game, 16th), turnover margin (+4.4; 11th) and turnovers forced (15.6 per game; 11th).
• RJ Luis is the 2024-25 BIG EAST Player of the Year, while Zuby Ejiofor was named the league's Most Improved Player; Ejiofor is averaging 4.3 offensive rebounds per game, the most in the nation.
 
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.
 
The Series with St. John's
• The 1958 NIT contest was the only game in the series that took place before Butler joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season.
 
Series: St. John's Leads, 15-11
Streak: St. John's, W5
In BIG EAST Tournament: SJU, 1-0
First Meeting: March 13, 1958; St. John's, 78-68 (NIT)
Last Meeting: Feb. 26, 2025; St. John's, 76-70 (at BU)