First Round Preview: No. 9 Butler vs. No. 8 St. John’s

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The first game of the 2025 BIG EAST Tournament will feature No. 9 seed Butler playing against No. 8 seed St. John’s on Friday morning. The 11 a.m. tip inside Mohegan Sun Arena is a BEDN contest that will stream on FloCollege.com.

GameDay
Date: Friday, March 7, 2025
Time: 11:00 AM ET
Location: Uncasville, Conn. – Mohegan Sun Arena
Live Stats: BIGEAST.com (Statbroadcast)
Watch: BEDN on FloCollege.com

Bulldog Bits
– Kilyn McGuff was named Second Team All-BIG EAST on Thursday.
– Butler only faced St. John’s once this season and the game was played at Madison Square Garden.
– The Bulldogs have played in the No. 8 vs. No. 9 game for three-straight years.
– Kilyn McGuff was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday.
– McGuff led Butler with 21 points and seven rebounds in their game at Villanova.
– McGuff scored 15 of her game-high 21 points in the second half.
– BU outscored the Wildcats 21-10 in the third quarter.
– Butler makes seven 3-pointers per game on average to rank third in the conference.
– BU is shooting 34.1 percent from behind the arc, the third-best percentage in the league.
– McGuff ranks fourth in the league in made 3-pointers with 57. She averages nearly two per game.
– Butler’s 43 rebounds at Villanova was their highest team total against any BIG EAST opponent this year.
– The Bulldogs rank third among all BIG EAST teams in rebound margin (+2.9).
– Sydney Jaynes pulled down a season-high nine rebounds in the setback to Villanova.
– If McGuff plays all 40 minutes on Friday she will move into 10th place at BU for minutes played in a single-season.
– Cristen Carter is shooting 56.3 percent from the floor this year, making 71 of her 126 attempts.
– Butler ranks second in the league in free throw makes (12) and free throw attempts (16.8) per game.
– BU ranks second in the BIG EAST in bench points per game (20.9).
– Ari Wiggins is set to play in her 100th career game on Friday.

BIG EAST Regular Season Standings
#1 UConn 18-0, 28-3
#2 Creighton 16-2, 24-5
#3 Seton Hall 13-5, 21-8
#4 Marquette 12-6, 20-9
#5 Villanova 11-7, 17-13
#6 DePaul 8-10, 13-18
#7 Providence 6-12, 13-18
#8 St. John’s 5-13, 15-14
#9 Butler 5-13, 15-16
#10 Georgetown 4-14, 11-18
#11 Xavier 1-17, 6-23

Scouting St. John’s
The Red Storm ended the regular season with an overtime loss at DePaul to move their overall record to 15-14. Their 5-13 conference record was identical to Butler’s, yet the Johnnies would get the No. 8 seed because they defeated Butler in the regular season. Head Coach Joe Tartamella has the second-best defense in the league, limiting the opposition to just 56.3 points per game. The Red Storm rank third in the BIG EAST in steals (8.9 per game) and fourth in 3-point field goal defense (30.7%). Lashae Dwyer averages three steals per game to lead the conference. The talented guard is also top-ten in the BIG EAST in field goal percentage (42.4). Dwyer and Ber’Nyah Mayo have started in every game this year and are the only players on the team to average double figures in the scoring column. Dwyer leads the way at 13.6 points per game and Mayo averages 11.3.

All-Time Series
St. John’s is 17-5 all-time against Butler. The two teams split the regular season series a year ago with each team winning at home. St. John’s notched a 60-42 win in New York, but the Bulldogs responded with a 64-59 win at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Before that victory, St. John’s had won eight-straight.

Last Game vs. The Red Storm
St. John’s and Butler went head-to-head at Madison Square Garden in the only meeting of the season between the two clubs. Lashae Dwyer (21), Phoenix Gedeon (13) and Ber’Nyah Mayo (11) all scored in double figures for the Red Storm. Dwyer went 8-for-12 from the floor and 4-for-6 from 3-point range, while Gedeon added a game-high nine rebounds. The Johnnies scored 27 points off 22 Butler turnovers. Butler was led by Kilyn McGuff and Sydney Jaynes with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

McGuff Named Second Team All-BIG EAST
Kilyn McGuff was selected to the 2024-25 All-BIG EAST Second Team after a vote from the conference head coaches. McGuff averaged 12.7 points and 8.0 rebounds per game to lead the team in each category. She led the BIG EAST in double-doubles with 10, ranked fourth in rebounds per game (8.0), fourth in made 3-pointers (57), sixth in minutes per game (33.5) and 10th in free throw percentage (76.5). She led BU in scoring 12 times and in rebounding 22 times!

McGuff Makes BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll Kilyn McGuff had a game-high 21 points against Villanova while also adding seven rebounds, an assist, and a block. She went 6-for-9 from the field including 2-for-4 from behind the arc and 7-for-10 from the line. Tournament Talk Butler and St. John’s have never played each other in the BIG EAST Tournament. The Bulldogs will be aiming for their first conference tournament win since March 3, 2018 when they topped Providence in the first round 73-67. Butler’s two other tournament wins were recorded against Xavier in the first round. They won against the Musketeers in 2016 and again in 2017. Down to the Wire All three BIG EAST Tournament wins for Butler have been decided in the final seconds of the game. They beat Xavier by one in 2016 (48-47), then by two points in 2017 (68-66). The 2018 victory against Providence came in overtime. Last Two Trips Butler faced Providence in the conference tournament last year and went up against Georgetown in Austin Parkinson’s first year as a Bulldog. The Hoyas topped BU 53-46 in 2023. A year ago, Providence eliminated Butler with a 75-60 victory. Butler still made the 2024 WNIT field and would win a game over Bowling Green before ending their season in the Second Round to Purdue. Butler’s BIG EAST Basketball Legend 2023 Butler Athletics Hall of Famer Lade Akande was selected as this year’s BIG EAST Basketball Legend for the Bulldogs. Akande played at BU from 2005-09 and finished in the Top 10 in Butler’s career record book in 12 categories. She ended her career with 1,705 points to mark the second-most in school history. Akande also had 757 rebounds and 140 blocks to become just the second player in school history to record over 1,500 points, 700 rebounds and 100 blocks. Signature Wins Butler’s best wins of the season came against Indiana and Marquette. The Hoosiers lost to the Bulldogs at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Nov. 13 by the final score of 56-46. IU currently has a NET ranking at 39. BU also topped Marquette 67-65 at Hinkle on Feb. 9. The Golden Eagles are 20 spots below Indiana in the NET rankings. Kilyn Reached 1,000 Career Points Kilyn McGuff reached 1,000 career points in the second half of Butler’s game at #6 UConn. She scored a team-high 17 against the Huskies to move her career total to 1,006. She has scored 395 points as a Bulldog and had 723 over her previous three years at Belmont. What’s Missing? Caroline Strande and Jordan Meulemans are both out for the season. Meulemans was sidelined just days before Butler’s first game and Strande suffered a season-ending injury on Dec. 29 vs. Seton Hall. Strande was a Second Team All-BIG EAST selection last year and became the first Bulldog in program history to lead the team in points, rebounds and assists during the same season. Meulemans averaged 8.1 points per game last year and made 61 3-pointers, shooting 42 percent from behind the arc. Up Next The winner between Butler and St. John’s will advance to the quarterfinals on Saturday to play No. 1 seed UConn at noon. That contest will air live on FS1. UConn beat Butler 101-59 in the first meeting at the XL Center in Hartford. The rematch at Hinkle Fieldhouse came in front of a record-setting, sold-out crowd of 9,100 people. UConn won that matchup 86-47.

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