Feeling confident, St. John’s looks to build on its most impressive win of the season when it takes on host Butler in Indianapolis on Wednesday night.
The Red Storm (16-12, 8-9 Big East) dropped three straight and five of six, and drew the ire of coach Rick Pitino, before responding with a 90-85 win at Georgetown on Feb. 21, then knocked off then-No. 15 Creighton 80-66 on Sunday.
The latest win marked the Red Storm’s first over a ranked opponent since Feb. 11, 2023, and Pitino is hoping it ignites a strong finish to the regular season.
“We’re not going to get too high with (the win over Creighton), but we’re proud of it,” Pitino said. “We have to emulate that again and again.”
St. John’s has shot 51.9 percent while totaling 40 assists over the past two games. Daniss Jenkins (14.8 points per game) had a season-high 27 points to go along with six assists against Creighton.
During the Red Storm’s 86-70 home win over Butler on Jan. 2, Jenkins scored a team-high 17 points while teammates Chris Ledlum and Joel Soriano combined for 27 points and 23 rebounds. St. John’s made half of its 68 shots overall and owned a 43-32 rebounding advantage.
Firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble, Butler (16-12, 7-10) has dropped a season-worst four straight games, including the past three by an average of 14.7 points.
In Saturday’s 76-64 defeat at Seton Hall, Butler shot 38.9 percent overall, committed 16 turnovers and allowed Seton Hall to make 49.2 percent of its attempts from the field.
“We got to get better,” Butler coach Thad Matta said. “We’ve gotta stay together. Nobody likes getting knocked down, but we’ve got to get back up and fight.”
The Bulldogs’ DJ Davis (13.6 points per game) had 25 points against St. John’s in January, but he has totaled just 34 — while shooting 5-for-29 from 3-point range — in his past four games. Teammate and former St. John’s guard Posh Alexander has averaged 13 points in Butler’s past three games, shooting 50 percent from the floor and 57.1 percent from 3-point range.
–Field Level Media