Providence vs Butler Prediction 3/12/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The Butler Bulldogs and the Providence Friars meet Wednesday in Big East Tournament college basketball action from Madison Square Garden. Here’s a Providence vs Butler prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Providence vs Butler pick.

Butler Bulldogs Betting Preview

The Bulldogs kicked off the season on a nice run, but since then (outside of a couple brief stretches) it’s been a struggle in the win column. Butler lost to only Austin Peay in their first eight games, then hit the skids with losses to Houston, North Dakota State, Wisconsin, Marquette, UConn, Villanova, St. John’s, Providence and Creighton. A 6-4 run came next with wins over Seton Hall, DePaul, Seton Hall again, Providence, Georgetown and DePaul again among losses to UConn, Marquette, Georgetown and Xavier. Since then it’s been four straight losses for the Bulldogs versus St. John’s, Villanova, Xavier and Creighton. In total that gives the Bulldogs a 13-18 overall run across 31 games this year so far.

In the Creighton matchup over the weekend, the Bulldogs were down 52-44 going into the second half. Butler didn’t get any closer than that on a 35-30 run and took the loss 87-74 in the end. Tops in scoring were Patrick McCaffery (three steals; two assists) and Jahmyl Telfort (six assists; five rebounds), each with 19 points. Also in double-figures off the bench was Andre Screen with 10 points and six rebounds in 20 minutes of work in the defeat.

Providence Friars Betting Preview

Over on the Providence side, they won their first quintet of outings this year. Since then however, it’s been a rough skid with few bright spots. The Friars went just 2-8 after that opening run, falling to Oklahoma, Davidson, Indiana, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, St. John’s, Marquette and UConn. A 4-2 run came next with wins over Butler, Seton Hall, Georgetown and Seton Hall again, then a 1-9 stretch. Those losses came versus St. John’s, Creighton, Butler, Xavier, Georgetown, Marquette, UConn, DePaul and Xavier in succession. In total that gives the Friars a 12-19 overall run across 31 outings this season.

Matched up against Xavier on the road Saturday, the Friars entered the second half with a 36-32 deficit. After a 40-36 run from there, Providence had another loss 76-68 in the end. Bensley Joseph did most of the scoring work for the Friars, with 27 points, three rebounds, two steals and two assists. Ryan Mela added 12 points with seven rebounds and four assists in 32 minutes of work. Both Jayden Pierre (five rebounds) and Oswin Erhunmwunse (six rebounds) added eight points apiece in the loss as well.

Providence vs Butler Prediction

I’m going to take a stab on Providence, but I’ll likely skip this one in reality as you could make a case either way. The Friars didn’t look spectacular in their latest loss to a good Xavier team, hitting just 4-of-11 (36.4 percent) from the line alongside 17 turnovers for 20 Musketeers points. The bad news is that Providence has lost nine of their last 10 games. The good news is that they’ve still scored pretty well, with 68 or more points in seven of those 10 outings.

These teams split the season series, with the home team taking it each time. Providence won 84-65 on January 8, and Butler returned the favor 82-81 on February 8. In that latest meeting both teams were comparable in shooting (each had 50 percent from the field) and turnovers (Providence had 10 of 21 total). The Bulldogs’ edge came on the boards though, as Butler powered out a 34-24 advantage in rebounding (12-6 offensive). The neutral location of this third matchup should keep things pretty evenly balanced once again, but the Friars are going to have to hit the boards a little harder and try to get Butler’s shooting percentage down. It’ll be a fun one to watch regardless.