St. John's University Athletics
Wednesday, February 26
Indianapolis, Ind. (Hinkle Fieldhouse)
9 p.m.
St. John's University
at
Butler
No. 7/7 St. John’s Looks to Clinch a Share of BIG EAST Regular Season Title at Butler on Wednesday
2/25/2025 12:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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The Red Storm men’s basketball team aims for its first conference regular season crown since 1992 with a win over the Bulldogs
QUEENS, N.Y. – The No. 7/7 St. John's men's basketball team (24-4, 15-2 BIG EAST) looks to clinch a share of the BIG EAST Regular Season Championship when it visits Butler (13-14, 6-10 BIG EAST) on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET. CBS Sports Network will carry the national broadcast live from Hinkle Fieldhouse.
With a win over the Bulldogs, the Red Storm can secure a share of its first conference crown since 1992. The Red Storm holds a 15-2 record in BIG EAST play and have a 2.5 game lead over second-place Creighton, as the Bluejays own a 12-4 mark in league competition. If the Johnnies win two of their last three regular season games, they will win the league championship outright for the first time since the 1984-85 season.
CBS Sports announcers Andrew Catalon and Steve Lappas will have the call alongside sideline reporter Jon Rothstein in Indianapolis.
An audio broadcast of the game on the LEARFIELD Red Storm Sports Network with John Minko and Vin Parise will also be available on a variety of platforms including the Varsity Network App, TuneIn Radio, RedStormSports.com and the St. John's Red Storm mobile app. The radio broadcast can also be heard on SiriusXM radio channel 137 or 201 and via the SiriusXM App.
The Johnnies moved up in the national polls on Monday, reaching No. 7 in the Associated Press (AP) poll and the USA Today Coaches' poll. The No. 7 AP poll ranking marked the program's highest since checked in at seventh on Dec. 2, 1991. St. John's has been ranked for six consecutive weeks and has spent three straight weeks in the AP Poll Top 10.
With Sunday's victory over UConn, St. John's matched a program record with its 15th win in BIG EAST play. The Red Storm tied the 1984-85 team that went 15-1 in league play and reached the 15-win plateau in conference play for just the second time since the BIG EAST's inception in 1979. The squad aims for a new program record of 16 BIG EAST victories if it can complete the regular season sweep of Butler on Wednesday.
St. John's is coming off a dominant performance over Connecticut, 89-75, on Sunday at a sold-out Madison Square Garden to complete a season sweep of the back-to-back National Champions for the first time in 25 years. All five Red Storm starters finished in double-figures and recorded a block and a steal as the Johnnies led by as many as 22 points during the contest.
Kadary Richmond became the second St. John's player to earn the BIG EAST Player of the Week award on Monday. The graduate student joined junior RJ Luis Jr., who captured the honor twice earlier this season on Jan. 13 and Feb. 10. The recognition marked the first time two different Red Storm players garnered the conference's player of the week in the same season since Shamorie Ponds and Mustapha Heron both won it during the 2018-19 campaign. In BIG EAST action, Luis has logged 17.9 points and 7.7 rebounds and Richmond has recorded 14.9 points, 6.1 boards and 5.0 assists per contests.
St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino is seeking his 13th regular season championship in his 37-year career. With a proven track record of second year success, Pitino previously captured titles in his second year at Boston University (1979-80), Kentucky (1990-91) and Iona (2022-23). While at Louisville, the New York native won BIG EAST Regular Season Championships in 2009 and 2013. The 72-year-old is one win shy of reaching 300 victories in 11 seasons as a BIG EAST head coach.
St. John's leads the all-time series with Butler, 14-11, and is looking to complete a season sweep of the Bulldogs for the second straight year. Butler has won seven of 10 meetings in the series played at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse. On Jan. 4 in Carnesecca Arena, a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double from Luis propelled St. John's to victory and it began a 10-game win streak. The Johnnies made just one 3-pointer, marking the first time St. John's has hit exactly one triple in a regular season conference win since toppling No. 14 Cincinnati, 53-52, on Jan. 5, 2013.
Winning four of its last five games, Butler owns a 13-14 overall record and 6-10 mark in BIG EAST games. The Bulldogs have led at the half in 11 of the team's 16 BIG EAST games and has gone 9-6 at Hinkle Fieldhouse this season. Butler is committing only 13.9 fouls per game, which is the 16th-fewest nationally.
With 10 games of 20 or more points this season, Bulldogs' top scorer Jahmyl Telfort is averaging 16.1 points, which ranks seventh in the BIG EAST. The forward also leads Butler with 3.5 assists per game and 27 total steals.
Following Wednesday's road tilt, St. John's will return to Madison Square Garden for its regular season home finale. The Red Storm looks to improve to a perfect 18-0 in New York City this season when it hosts Seton Hall on Saturday at 2:15 p.m. CBS will carry the national telecast.
With a win over the Bulldogs, the Red Storm can secure a share of its first conference crown since 1992. The Red Storm holds a 15-2 record in BIG EAST play and have a 2.5 game lead over second-place Creighton, as the Bluejays own a 12-4 mark in league competition. If the Johnnies win two of their last three regular season games, they will win the league championship outright for the first time since the 1984-85 season.
CBS Sports announcers Andrew Catalon and Steve Lappas will have the call alongside sideline reporter Jon Rothstein in Indianapolis.
An audio broadcast of the game on the LEARFIELD Red Storm Sports Network with John Minko and Vin Parise will also be available on a variety of platforms including the Varsity Network App, TuneIn Radio, RedStormSports.com and the St. John's Red Storm mobile app. The radio broadcast can also be heard on SiriusXM radio channel 137 or 201 and via the SiriusXM App.
The Johnnies moved up in the national polls on Monday, reaching No. 7 in the Associated Press (AP) poll and the USA Today Coaches' poll. The No. 7 AP poll ranking marked the program's highest since checked in at seventh on Dec. 2, 1991. St. John's has been ranked for six consecutive weeks and has spent three straight weeks in the AP Poll Top 10.
With Sunday's victory over UConn, St. John's matched a program record with its 15th win in BIG EAST play. The Red Storm tied the 1984-85 team that went 15-1 in league play and reached the 15-win plateau in conference play for just the second time since the BIG EAST's inception in 1979. The squad aims for a new program record of 16 BIG EAST victories if it can complete the regular season sweep of Butler on Wednesday.
St. John's is coming off a dominant performance over Connecticut, 89-75, on Sunday at a sold-out Madison Square Garden to complete a season sweep of the back-to-back National Champions for the first time in 25 years. All five Red Storm starters finished in double-figures and recorded a block and a steal as the Johnnies led by as many as 22 points during the contest.
Kadary Richmond became the second St. John's player to earn the BIG EAST Player of the Week award on Monday. The graduate student joined junior RJ Luis Jr., who captured the honor twice earlier this season on Jan. 13 and Feb. 10. The recognition marked the first time two different Red Storm players garnered the conference's player of the week in the same season since Shamorie Ponds and Mustapha Heron both won it during the 2018-19 campaign. In BIG EAST action, Luis has logged 17.9 points and 7.7 rebounds and Richmond has recorded 14.9 points, 6.1 boards and 5.0 assists per contests.
St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino is seeking his 13th regular season championship in his 37-year career. With a proven track record of second year success, Pitino previously captured titles in his second year at Boston University (1979-80), Kentucky (1990-91) and Iona (2022-23). While at Louisville, the New York native won BIG EAST Regular Season Championships in 2009 and 2013. The 72-year-old is one win shy of reaching 300 victories in 11 seasons as a BIG EAST head coach.
St. John's leads the all-time series with Butler, 14-11, and is looking to complete a season sweep of the Bulldogs for the second straight year. Butler has won seven of 10 meetings in the series played at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse. On Jan. 4 in Carnesecca Arena, a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double from Luis propelled St. John's to victory and it began a 10-game win streak. The Johnnies made just one 3-pointer, marking the first time St. John's has hit exactly one triple in a regular season conference win since toppling No. 14 Cincinnati, 53-52, on Jan. 5, 2013.
Winning four of its last five games, Butler owns a 13-14 overall record and 6-10 mark in BIG EAST games. The Bulldogs have led at the half in 11 of the team's 16 BIG EAST games and has gone 9-6 at Hinkle Fieldhouse this season. Butler is committing only 13.9 fouls per game, which is the 16th-fewest nationally.
With 10 games of 20 or more points this season, Bulldogs' top scorer Jahmyl Telfort is averaging 16.1 points, which ranks seventh in the BIG EAST. The forward also leads Butler with 3.5 assists per game and 27 total steals.
Following Wednesday's road tilt, St. John's will return to Madison Square Garden for its regular season home finale. The Red Storm looks to improve to a perfect 18-0 in New York City this season when it hosts Seton Hall on Saturday at 2:15 p.m. CBS will carry the national telecast.
Players Mentioned
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