By SEAN BRENNAN
Special to BIGEAST.com
 
As Butler and Providence tipped off the 2025 BIG EAST Tournament Wednesday afternoon at Madison Square Garden each program had their own reasons for wanting to extend their respective stays in New York City. For at least one more day anyway.
 
The Bulldogs, who came into the game having lost four straight to close out the regular season, were looking to break the nasty cycle of first-round exits that have plagued Butler in the last two tournaments. Maybe, just maybe, the third time would be the charm for Thad Matta’s crew.
 
Providence? Well, you had to think the Friars wanted another shot at top-seeded St. John’s in Thursday’s quarterfinals after dropping a pair of hard-fought, two-point losses to the Red Storm in the regular season. A win would get them that meeting with the Johnnies. And besides, Providence reached the semifinals of the BIG EAST Tournament last season as a seven seed, so why shouldn’t the Friars, an eight-seed this time around, dream big?
 
But a first half that saw Butler shoot a sizzling 56.7% from the field - with the tandem of Jahmyl Telfort and Pierre Brooks II combining for 26 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the floor - gave the Bulldogs the look of a team that was in control as they went into halftime up eight points.
 
The second half? Pretty much a carbon copy of the first. Brooks stayed hot, finishing with a game-high 25  points, including a key three-point play with 3:58 to play which gave the Bulldogs a 12-point. It was a play that  pretty much ended any notion of a Providence late-game comeback as No. 9 Butler posted a 75-69 victory over the Friars.
 
“We have an older team so I feel like we should be able to withstand those runs,” Brooks said after the game.”We have veterans on this team who can pull us in, pull us back together when those teams go on runs. (Wednesday) we showed that we can withstand that run and push back when we need to.” 
 
Butler (14-18), which finally broke that first-round exit streak - the third time really was the charm - will now face St. John’s, the tournament’s top dog and the No. 6 team in the country. The Friars, who finished their season at 12-20, were led by Bensley Joseph’s 20 points as he surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career.
 
Butler was swept by the Johnnies in the season series but played the Red Storm tight in both contests, losing 70-62 at St. John’s before dropping a 76-70 decision at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Feb. 26.
 
But first, a little more on how Butler moved on.
 
After holding 10-point leads at three different parts of the second half, the Bulldogs got a three-pointer from Brooks with 8:01 to play to grab their biggest lead to that point at 63-49. Butler managed to hold comfortable double-digit leads into the final minute when Providence trimmed its deficit to 73-67 after a layup by Corey Floyd Jr. with 32.1 to play. But Butler’s Finley Bizjack knocked down a pair of free throws with 21.3 to play to seal the deal for the Bulldogs and Butler was moving on to face the heavily-favored Johnnies.
 
“It’s a home game for St. John’s,” Brooks said. “It’s going to be packed in there so we have to come in as one and come in calm and collected and try to get a ‘W’  We know St. John’s crashes the glass so we need to make an effort. We pride ourselves on boxing out, defending at a high level. If we do that we have a great chance of winning.”