St. John's University Athletics
Wednesday, January 28
New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)
7 p.m.
St. John's University
vs
Butler
No. 25/24 St. John’s Welcomes Butler on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden
1/27/2026 3:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Buy TicketsWatch (Peacock/NBC Sports Network)Live StatsListenGame Notes (PDF)VIDEO: Press ConferencePregame Quotes
The Red Storm men’s basketball team carries a six-game win streak into its matchup with the Bulldogs
QUEENS, N.Y. - Fresh off back-to-back double-digit, second half comebacks, the No. 25/24 St. John's men's basketball team (15-5, 8-1 BIG EAST) carries a six-game winning streak into Wednesday's contest against Butler (13-7, 4-5 BIG EAST) at Madison Square Garden.
Prior to the game, St. John's University will honor Head Coach Rick Pitino for recording his 900th career victory this past Saturday at Xavier. The pregame recognition will begin at approximately 6:50 p.m.
Tickets are still available for tomorrow night's contest at The World's Most Famous Arena. To secure your seat, click here, visit RedStormTix.com, call 1-888-GO-STORM or e-mail redstormsports@stjohns.edu. The St. John's Athletic Department will be celebrating Catholic Schools Week as the first 500 students in attendance will receive a free Johnny Thunderbird lunch box.
Wednesday's contest will air on Peacock and NBC Sports Network with Justin Kutcher and Tarik Turner on the call from The World's Most Famous Arena. The LEARFIELD St. John's Radio Network broadcast will be available with John Minko and Brandon Tierney on the ESPN New York App, the Varsity Network, TuneIn, Sirius XM Channel 390, the SiriusXM App and the St. John's Red Storm App.
The Red Storm re-entered the Associated Press Top-25 on Monday for the first time since Dec. 15, sliding in at no. 25. The Johnnies climbed up one spot to no. 24 in the USA TODAY Coaches poll and have been ranked in 21 of the last 24 possible weeks.
St. John's is coming off back-to-back come-from-behind wins, erasing 15-plus point second half deficits in each of the last two games against Seton Hall and Xavier. The Johnnies have won six-straight dating back to its first meeting with Butler on Jan. 6 in Indianapolis and eight of their last nine contests.
The six-game winning streak has coincided with Dillon Mitchell's return to the starting line-up after a 12-game absence. Over the last six contests, the point forward has averaged 11.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists. The senior captain was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll and Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Player of the Week for his recent performances against Seton Hall and Xavier. Mitchell went for 17.0 points on 63.6 percent shooting, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 3.5 assists per game during a 2-0 week for the Red Storm.
Zuby Ejiofor continues to pace the Johnnies in scoring (15.7 PPG), rebounding (7.5 RPG), assists (3.2 APG) and blocks (2.0 BPG). The senior forward is just 16 points shy of becoming the 54th 1,000-point scorer in St. John's Men's Basketball history. Ejiofor ranks 11th in NCAA Division I in free throw attempts (158) and 37th in makes from the charity stripe (109). The third member of the starting frontcourt, Bryce Hopkins, has delivered six consecutive double-figure scoring outings and paced the Johnnies offensively in two of the last three outings. During the win streak, the graduate student is averaging 15.3 points and 6.3 boards per game.
St. John's has won seven straight meetings against Butler and 10 of the last 11 contests, dating back to Feb. 5, 2022. The Red Storm and Bulldogs will face off at MSG for the first time in the regular season since Feb. 18, 2014, when St. John's down Butler, 77-52.
In the first meeting this season, St. John's dominated the second half to claim an 84-70 victory at Hinkle Fieldhouse three weeks ago. The Johnnies outscored the Bulldogs, 42-28, in the latter stanza while committing just five turnovers and forced the Bulldogs into 21 in the winning effort.
Butler is coming off an 87-76 home victory on Friday over Marquette. Finley Bizjack, the reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week, averaged 26.0 points in the last two games. The junior guard leads the team with 17.5 points per contest while forward Michael Ajayi leads the BIG EAST and ranks third nationally pulling down 11.5 rebounds per game.
Prior to the game, St. John's University will honor Head Coach Rick Pitino for recording his 900th career victory this past Saturday at Xavier. The pregame recognition will begin at approximately 6:50 p.m.
Tickets are still available for tomorrow night's contest at The World's Most Famous Arena. To secure your seat, click here, visit RedStormTix.com, call 1-888-GO-STORM or e-mail redstormsports@stjohns.edu. The St. John's Athletic Department will be celebrating Catholic Schools Week as the first 500 students in attendance will receive a free Johnny Thunderbird lunch box.
Wednesday's contest will air on Peacock and NBC Sports Network with Justin Kutcher and Tarik Turner on the call from The World's Most Famous Arena. The LEARFIELD St. John's Radio Network broadcast will be available with John Minko and Brandon Tierney on the ESPN New York App, the Varsity Network, TuneIn, Sirius XM Channel 390, the SiriusXM App and the St. John's Red Storm App.
The Red Storm re-entered the Associated Press Top-25 on Monday for the first time since Dec. 15, sliding in at no. 25. The Johnnies climbed up one spot to no. 24 in the USA TODAY Coaches poll and have been ranked in 21 of the last 24 possible weeks.
St. John's is coming off back-to-back come-from-behind wins, erasing 15-plus point second half deficits in each of the last two games against Seton Hall and Xavier. The Johnnies have won six-straight dating back to its first meeting with Butler on Jan. 6 in Indianapolis and eight of their last nine contests.
The six-game winning streak has coincided with Dillon Mitchell's return to the starting line-up after a 12-game absence. Over the last six contests, the point forward has averaged 11.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists. The senior captain was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll and Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Player of the Week for his recent performances against Seton Hall and Xavier. Mitchell went for 17.0 points on 63.6 percent shooting, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 3.5 assists per game during a 2-0 week for the Red Storm.
Zuby Ejiofor continues to pace the Johnnies in scoring (15.7 PPG), rebounding (7.5 RPG), assists (3.2 APG) and blocks (2.0 BPG). The senior forward is just 16 points shy of becoming the 54th 1,000-point scorer in St. John's Men's Basketball history. Ejiofor ranks 11th in NCAA Division I in free throw attempts (158) and 37th in makes from the charity stripe (109). The third member of the starting frontcourt, Bryce Hopkins, has delivered six consecutive double-figure scoring outings and paced the Johnnies offensively in two of the last three outings. During the win streak, the graduate student is averaging 15.3 points and 6.3 boards per game.
St. John's has won seven straight meetings against Butler and 10 of the last 11 contests, dating back to Feb. 5, 2022. The Red Storm and Bulldogs will face off at MSG for the first time in the regular season since Feb. 18, 2014, when St. John's down Butler, 77-52.
In the first meeting this season, St. John's dominated the second half to claim an 84-70 victory at Hinkle Fieldhouse three weeks ago. The Johnnies outscored the Bulldogs, 42-28, in the latter stanza while committing just five turnovers and forced the Bulldogs into 21 in the winning effort.
Butler is coming off an 87-76 home victory on Friday over Marquette. Finley Bizjack, the reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week, averaged 26.0 points in the last two games. The junior guard leads the team with 17.5 points per contest while forward Michael Ajayi leads the BIG EAST and ranks third nationally pulling down 11.5 rebounds per game.
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward/ Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's BasketballSt. John's vs Butler Pregame Press Conference 1.27.26
Tuesday, January 27
St. John's Men's Basketball vs Xavier Postgame Press Conference 1.24.26
Saturday, January 24
St. John's MBB @ Xavier Highlights 12.24.2026
Saturday, January 24
Pregame Press Conference St. John's @Xavier 1.22.2026
Thursday, January 22