Butler hosts St. John’s Wednesday night

The Butler Bulldogs (20-9, 8-8) close out the home portion of their schedule Wednesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse against the St. John’s Red Storm (15-14, 4-12).

Both the Red Storm and Bulldogs snapped losing streaks over the weekend, with Butler clamping down on DePaul en route to a 60-42 victory on Saturday, and St. John’s stunning Creighton with a 91-71 victory on Sunday.

The last time these two teams played is particularly memorable, as it was this season’s Big East opener and the Bulldogs stormed out to a 42-19 first half lead before the Red Storm surged back to take a 58-53 lead with three minutes to play, before Butler was able to go on a 7-0 run to end the game and snag the victory.

In a way, the game was reminiscent of how things would go for both teams in conference play. An up-and-down battle for Butler where they inexplicably struggle for stretches, and a close but not close enough effort for a Red Storm team in year one of a new coach.

Butler has lost exactly three home conference games in each of the past five seasons. The Bulldogs enter their final home game with three conference losses, which is an interesting tidbit.

The game very well should be a runaway in Butler’s favor, if you believe KenPom’s projection (73-65, Bulldogs) but the big story? The retirement of Butler Blue III.

After eight years of being a great and honorable mascot, Trip rides off into the sunset Wednesday night. If you’ve been following this site for any amount of time, you know of our affection for Butler’s four-legged good boy. The couple meetings we’ve had with him have been personal highpoints of my time with BECB, right up there with being able to cover the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden. I have no doubt that Butler Blue IV will do an excellent job filling the role, and I hope Trip has the best retirement he could possibly want.

How to watch or

Time: 7 p.m. ET

TV: CBS Sports Network