St. John’s men’s basketball team will travel to Indianapolis for a game against Butler on Tuesday at Hinkle Fieldhouse, scheduled for 7 p.m. The matchup will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network and Peacock, with Noah Reed and Nick Bahe providing commentary. Fans can also listen to the radio broadcast by John Minko and Vin Parise on ESPN New York 880 AM, as well as through various streaming platforms.
In their previous game, St. John’s (9-5, 2-1 BIG EAST) lost to Providence 77-71 at Madison Square Garden despite leading for most of the contest. Zuby Ejiofor matched a career-high with 33 points and secured 15 rebounds, including 11 offensive boards.
Following this performance, Ejiofor was named BIG EAST Player of the Week for the second time this season. Over the past week, he averaged 29 points per game on 60 percent shooting, along with 12.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and eight offensive rebounds per contest—a figure that led the nation during that period. He tied or set new career-bests in seven statistical categories over his last two games.
This season, Ejiofor—who was selected Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year—leads St. John’s in scoring (15.9 PPG), rebounds (7.9 RPG), assists (3.0 APG), and blocks (2.4 BPG). His block average ranks among the top-20 in NCAA Division I.
St. John’s has been effective at drawing fouls this year, ranking sixth nationally in free throw attempts per game (28.4) and fifth in makes (20.9). On Saturday, Ejiofor attempted 23 free throws—the second most in program history and more than any BIG EAST player since March 2019.
The next two games offer Quad 1 opportunities for St. John’s against Butler (No. 48 NET ranking) and Creighton (No. 51 NET ranking). The team faces seven remaining Quad 1 games within its final seventeen conference matchups.
Tuesday’s game features two teams ranked highly in offensive rebounding: St. John’s is fourteenth nationally with an average of 14.3 offensive boards per game; Butler is ninth with an average of 14.5 per contest. Ejiofor averages 3.8 offensive rebounds per game while Butler’s Michael Ajayi averages four—both ranking inside the top fifteen nationally.
St. John’s leads the all-time series against Butler, having won sixteen out of twenty-seven meetings and claiming victory in six straight contests dating back to February 2022.
Butler enters Tuesday’s matchup at a record of ten wins and five losses overall but has dropped three consecutive conference games after starting non-conference play at nine wins and two losses.
Butler is led by guard Finley Bizjack (16 points per game) and forward Michael Ajayi (16.3 points per game); both rank among the top six scorers in the BIG EAST Conference this season according to league statistics.
After facing Butler, St John’s will continue its Midwest trip with a visit to Creighton on Saturday afternoon.
The St John’s Red Storm Men’s Basketball team operates from Queens, New York as part of the Big East Conference; it has claimed six Big East Tournament titles and two NIT championships throughout its history according to official records.
