St. John's at Butler Preview

 

    Butler and St. John's meet for the second time this season on Tuesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

    It's a battle of one of the best offenses in the Big East vs one of the better defensive teams in the Big East. St. John's leads the Big East in scoring with an average of 79.7 points per game while the Bulldogs rank second in the Big East in defensive scoring, only allowing 66.8 points per game. St. John's comes into the game as one of the hottest teams in the country, having won six conference games in a row. Butler is currently 6-10 overall and 5-8 in Big East play while St. John's record sits at 13-7 overall and 7-6 in conference this season. This game was originally scheduled for December 14th but was postponed due to Covid protocols. 

    This is the second meeting this season between Butler and St. John's. The Red Storm were victorious in the first meeting on January 12 at Carnesecca Arena in Queens, New York when they defeated the Bulldogs 69-57. The Red Storm used a 10-1 run late in the second half to pull away from the Bulldogs to claim the victory. In that first matchup, St. John's forced Butler into 16 turnovers which lead to 15 points for the Red Storm. The 16 turnovers were the second most turnovers in a game this season for the Bulldogs. St. John's sophomore forward Julian Champagnie led the way as he scored a game high 18 points. Butler was led by senior guard Jair Bolden who scored 17 points, including five three pointers in the game. 

    Butler will have their hands full on Tuesday night with several key players for the Red Storm. Sophomore forward Julian Champagnie leads the Big East in scoring with 19.7 points per game. On the defensive side of the ball, freshman guard Posh Alexander leads the conference in steals with 2.7 per game. St. John's likes to get out and push the tempo on offense and defensively the Red Storm like to create havoc with plenty of half court press and 2-3 zone. Look for St. John's to force Butler to move the ball around the key often and take away the lane for drives by seniors Aaron Thompson and Jair Bolden. If St. John's can force Butler into mistakes early, look for the Red Storm to take advantage and turn their defense into offense. If the Red Storm can force Butler into double digit turnovers again, they have a good chance of getting the win at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

    Butler will need their guards to step up in this game to come out with a win. Freshman Chuck Harris didn't play in the first meeting against St. John's in Queens but coming off a career high 22 points on Saturday vs DePaul, Butler will need him to have another strong performance off the bench on Tuesday. Jair Bolden will have to have a big game as he did in the first meeting when he hit five three pointers. Butler will need to get Bolden open on the perimeter to knock down some more of those on Tuesday for a victory. As they have done all season, Butler will slow the pace to their style of play and make the Red Storm play at the Bulldogs level which is very methodical and time consuming. If Butler can slow down St. John's offense and hold the Red Storm to below 70 points, the Bulldogs have a great chance at winning this game. 

    Butler has won six in a row over St. John's at Hinkle Fieldhouse and all time they have won seven out of 8 meetings vs the Red Storm in Indianapolis. St. John's has won six in a row overall coming into this game. Only one team's specific win streak will reach the number seven in a row on Tuesday night.