With Big East title in sight, No. 7 St. John’s visits Butler

No. 7 St. John’s will look to extend its winning streak to four games on Wednesday night when the Red Storm travel to Indianapolis to take on Butler.This is a key game for the entire Big East, as the Red Storm (24-4, 15-2) can clinch a share of the conference regular-season title with a victory. They also can do so with a Creighton loss to DePaul on Wednesday.St. John’s, which has won 13 of its past 14 games, has not secured a share of the Big East title since 1992 and has not won the conference outright since 1985.”We want this Big East crown badly,” coach Rick Pitino said. “Not only for the players but also for the fans who came back.”The Red Storm are coming off one of their better wins of the season as they dominated UConn 89-75 at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.The win allowed St. John’s to sweep UConn in the season series for the first time since 2000. It also improved the Red Storm to 17-0 at home.”This was our best game offensively and defensively all season,” Pitino said. “I think they get better every day and every game.”Zuby Ejiofor and Kadary Richmond each led the way with 18 points, with Ejiofor also collecting nine rebounds and six assists.Butler (13-14, 6-10) is playing well as of late, having won four of its last five games, including an 84-72 victory on the road at DePaul on Saturday night.Pierre Brooks recorded 24 points and seven rebounds for the Bulldogs, who closed the game on a 17-4 run.Jahmyl Telfort boasts team-leading averages in points (16.1) and assists (3.5). Andre Screen leads down low with 6.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per night.

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