Following a calamitous defeat to Providence this Saturday, the Red Storm face a critical junction in their season and must make up lost ground in the two road games they play this week, their first coming
against the Butler Bulldogs on Tuesday night. A win provides St. John’s a much-needed Quad 1 win, but a loss further complicates their tournament resume and might even put them on the outside looking in.
Welcome to the thread for Tuesday’s St. John’s men’s basketball matchup against Butler. Please be respectful in the comment section and do not share any illegal streams of today’s game.
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Game information
Who: St. John’s Red Storm (9-5) vs. Butler Bulldogs (10-5)
When: Tuesday, January 6, 2026, 7:00 p.m.
Where: Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
TV: Peacock
Radio: ESPN New York 880 / 1050
Series History: St. John’s leads all-time series, 16-11. The Red Storm have won the last six meetings, as well as three of the last four matchups at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
KenPom Predicted Score: St. John’s to win 82-80 (57 percent chance of win)
Injury news
There are no injury news to report for St. John’s heading into Saturday’s game.
What to watch for in the Storm
Shooting Their Foot Off – Saturday’s defeat to Providence marked St. John’s’ fifth loss in which they blew a second-half lead. The Red Storm’s 28.2% shooting performance was the second-worst in the Rick Pitino era, behind their notorious second-round upset loss to Arkansas in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Playing with an Ej’ – Most Red Storm players have failed to meet expectations this season. That is not the case for Zuby Ejiofor, who is expectedly playing like the preseason Big East Player of the Year. Ejiofor won the conference’s Player of the Week award after averaging 29.0 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists against Georgetown and Providence.
Board Bash – If there’s any consolation from Saturday’s turd sandwich of a loss, St. John’s racked up a season-high 44 rebounds and 19 offensive boards. The Johnnies will have their work cut out for them on Tuesday, as Butler ranks 16th in the country in offensive rebound percentage (38.9%). Leading scorer Michael Ajayi is also the country’s top rebounder with 12.3 rebounds per game.
Pregame links
- St. John’s must finally seize long overdue moment with season at crossroads — Zach Braziller, New York Post
- Rick Pitino has seen ‘frailties’ on Red Storm and wants to see grit — Roger Rubin, Newsday
- St. John’s called ‘soft,’ not an NCAA Tournament team after latest loss — Adam Zagoria, NJ.com
- CBS Sports analyst Jon Rothstein talked about the chances of St. John’s missing the tournament in this Monday’s episode of Inside College Basketball Now. Here is a snippet.
- What you need to know: Butler men’s basketball aims to end two-game skid against St. John’s — David Jacobs, The Butler Collegian
- Former Red Storm guard Daniss Jenkins posted 12 points and four assists off the bench as the Pistons destroyed the Knicks on Monday night, and even engaged in some trash-talk with Tyler Kolek as the two Big East guards faced off again in the pros. This came one day after Jenkins scored a career-high 25 points to beat the Cavaliers.
