Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
Tip-off: Thursday, 2:30 p.m. ET
Line: N/A

Providence and Butler meet in the Big East tournament quarterfinals as they look to secure a bid to the Big Dance.

The prospects of earning high seeds in the NCAA tournament were promising for both Butler and Providence when they first met this season on New Year's Eve, when the No. 12 Friars outscored the No. 9 Bulldogs by 19 points in the second half en route to an 81-73 win (Butler -7.5) in Indianapolis. As is often the case, Providence was led by G Kris Dunn (16.3 PPG, 6.4 APG, 5.7 RPG, 2.7 SPG)—the reigning Big East Player of the Year and a projected Top 5 pick in this June's NBA draft—as the junior guard put up 20 points, nine assists and seven boards in the road win. Dunn was held to nine points in the January 19 rematch, but that didn't stop the No. 16 Friars from pulling off another come-from-behind victory over the No. 18 Bulldogs, this time by a score of 81-78 (Butler -1). These days, the outlook is slightly less rosy for both programs, as each is no longer ranked. Butler, in particular, will need a victory in Wednesday's Big East tournament quarterfinal to ensure an at-large bid to the Big Dance. After a 1-5 stretch in February (0-6 ATS), Providence bounced back to win three straight games (3-0 ATS) to end its regular season at 22-9 (16-14 ATS) and earn a four seed for the Big East tournament. Key wins include a 69-65 victory against now-No. 15 Arizona (Zona -5.5) and a six-point road triumph over possible No. 1 seed Villanova (Nova -12.5). Butler, the tournament's five seed, enters the matchup having won seven of nine (8-1 ATS) and boasting an overall record of 21-9 (16-12-2 ATS). The Bulldogs have not made a habit of taking down big-time opponents this year, but a December win over Purdue (Purdue -4.5) that gave the Boilermakers their first loss of the season stands out as particularly impressive.

Dunn is not only the leader for the Friars; he is one of college basketball's foremost stars. While Dunn receives the most attention of anyone on the team from national media, he's joined this year by teammate F Ben Bentil (21.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 1.1 BPG) as an anonymous First Team All-Big East selection. Bentil, a sophomore from Ghana, came out of nowhere to lead the Big East in scoring and finished fifth in the conference in rebounds per game. He has also averaged 25.2 PPG in the Friars' last five contests, while Dunn has averaged 12.6 points per game over the same stretch. While the Friars may be able to escape Butler with only one member of the duo putting up big numbers, both players will have to be firing on all cylinders if Providence plans on making a serious run at the conference title. Joining Dunn and Bentil in double-digit points-per-game scoring is F Rodney Bullock (11.5 PPG, 6.8 RPG). Bullock played a key role in each of Providence's wins over Butler this season, averaging 20.5 PPG and 9 RPG in the two contests. All in all, though, the Friars’ offense is not particularly strong, ranking seventh in the Big East with 74.2 PPG, and its .475 FG percentage is next to last in the 10-team conference. The Friars are led on defense by Dunn, a hounding perimeter defender who is now a two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year. With a scoring defense of 69.8 points allowed per game, good for third in the Big East, the Friars' defense can be considered better than their offense. Their rebounding margin of +0.2, however, is worse than all other teams in the conference, save for lowly St. John's.

Butler, for its part, enters the postseason averaging 81.3 points per game, the most in the Big East and 17th in the nation. Its scoring margin, too, trumps the Friars', as the Bulldogs' +10.2 is 30th nationally, while Providence comes in at 112th with +4.3. The Bulldogs get much of their scoring from senior G Kellen Dunham (16.2 PPG) and sophomore F Kelan Martin (16.2 PPG, 6.7 RPG). Dunham was snubbed for this year's All-Big East team after being selected each of the past two seasons, but he's been no slouch when it comes to scoring: He's shooting a career-best 43.6 percent from the field and a deadly 41.4 percent from deep. Martin saw his playing time nearly double this year, and his solid, shorter build and versatile play from the small forward position remind some of Draymond Green in his Michigan State days. He's stepped up his scoring production toward the end of the season, putting up 19.7 PPG since the start of February. Alongside Martin on the All-Big East team is 6'4" senior F Roosevelt Jones (14.3 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 4.7 APG, 1.5 SPG), who has made a habit of stuffing all areas of the stat sheet. If he were he averaging .2 more points per game, he'd be in the Top 10 in the Big East in scoring, passing and rebounding. On defense, the Bulldogs surrender an average of 71.1 PPG, putting them in the middle of the pack in the Big East. That number may be overly flattering, though, as the team has been criticized at various points throughout the season for poor defensive effort, particularly in games away from home. Sophomore F Tyler Wideman (7.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 1.6 BPG) holds things down in the paint. He’s fourth in the Big East in blocks per game—but he's also second in fouls.