Butler, Providence meet in Big East quarters

No. 5 seed Butler (22-9, 10-8) vs. No. 4 seed Providence (19-12, 12-6)

Big East Conference Tourney Quarterfinals, Madison Square Garden, New York; Thursday, 1:30 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Butler and Providence are prepared to face off in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. The teams split the regular season series at one win apiece. The teams last played on Feb. 1, when the Friars shot 40.4 percent from the field and went 17 for 21 from the free throw line en route to the 65-61 victory.

VETERAN PRESENCE: Both of these teams have relied heavily on their seniors this year. Alpha Diallo, David Duke, Luwane Pipkins, Nate Watson and Maliek White have combined to account for 73 percent of Providence’s scoring this season. For Butler, Kamar Baldwin, Sean McDermott, Bryce Nze and Jordan Tucker have collectively accounted for 67 percent of all Butler scoring, including 75 percent of the team’s points over its last five games.BRILLIANT BALDWIN: Baldwin has connected on 33.1 percent of the 133 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 6 of 14 over his last three games. He’s also made 85 percent of his foul shots this season.

PERFECT WHEN: Providence is a flawless 16-0 when its defense holds opponents to a field goal percentage of 40.8 percent or less. The Friars are 3-12 when allowing opponents to shoot any better than that.

ASSIST RATIOS: The Bulldogs have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Friars. Providence has 32 assists on 77 field goals (41.6 percent) over its past three contests while Butler has assists on 37 of 78 field goals (47.4 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: Providence has attempted the second-most free throws among all Big East teams. The Friars have averaged 21.4 free throws per game this season, including 25 per game over their six-game winning streak.