#11/10 Marquette Hosts Butler Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT

The No. 11/10 Marquette University men's basketball team (21-4, 10-2 BIG EAST) returns to action after its second bye week in league play when it hosts Butler (15-11, 6-7 BIG EAST) at 8 p.m. CT in Fiserv Forum on Wednesday, Feb. 20. CBS Sports Network will feature the television broadcast, with Carter Blackburn (play-by-play) and Pete Gillen (analyst) calling the action. The Golden Eagles, who haven't played since Feb. 12 at DePaul, will then hit the road for back-to-back road games at Providence (Feb. 23) and Villanova (Feb. 27).

Series With Bulldogs Spans Program History

The all-time series dates back to the 1922-23 campaign and is led by Butler, 22-18.

MU claimed the first-ever meeting, 18-17, on Dec. 16, 1922, only to see the Bulldogs claim the next nine matchups. Marquette also collected a nine-game win streak between 1942 and 1990, with the last two contests during that run coming when both programs were members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference.

Following Marquette's move to the Great Midwest Conference in 1991-92, the two teams wouldn't meet until Butler beat the Golden Eagles at the buzzer in the opening game of the 2012 Maui Invitational. MU would return the favor in the 2013 NCAA tournament, downing the Bulldogs 74-72 in the closing seconds to earn a trip to the squad's third-straight Sweet 16 appearance.

Marquette earned a 76-58 win at Butler on Jan. 30, the program's first victory at Hinkle Fieldhouse since the Bulldogs joined the BIG EAST Conference. Guard Markus Howard led three players in double figures with 32 points and MU's defense held Butler to just 32.8 percent shooting from the floor.

Anim Model Of Efficiency In Recent Outings

Redshirt junior Sacar Anim has been a model of efficiency in recent outings and as a result has scored in double figures in four-straight games (five times total in first 21 games of 2018-18) for the first time in his 77-game career.

Dating back to the Jan. 30 win at Butler, Anim has combined to shoot 23-of-35 (65.7 percent) from the floor overall and 70.0 percent (7-of-10) from long distance. That stretch is highlighted by an 18-point afternoon against Villanova, when he finished 8-of-10 from the floor and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers.

Since the win over the Bulldogs, Anim is contributing 13.8 points per game, which is well above his season average of 8.3 points per contest.

John Puts Name In Mix For Top Defense Player

Sophomore center Theo John has emerged as one of the top shot-blocking threats in the country and as a result has put his name in the mix for not only the league's top defensive player accolade, but also the BIG EAST's most improved player honor.

The Minneapolis, Minnesota native is currently first in the league in blocks per game (2.4), good enough for 17th in the nation. That mark jumps to 2.7 swats per contest in BIG EAST play, where he is in possession of the single-game high (6, twice against DePaul) in conference action.

For the season, John is contributing 5.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game in 19.8 minutes per outing and has started 24-of-25 games. As a freshman, he appeared off the bench in 33 contests and chipped in just 3.9 points and 2.3 boards in 11.8 minutes per night.