St. John's extends winning streak to seven with 92-70 rout of Butler

Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News on Jan 28, 2026

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NEW YORK — There was no need Wednesday night for another furious second-half comeback.

Nor was there ever much doubt that No. 25 St. John’s would extend its season-long winning streak.

St. John’s imposed its will early and never looked back, cruising to a coast-to-coast 92-70 victory over Butler at Madison Square Garden for its seventh straight win.

Seven players scored at least eight points for St. John’s (16-5, 9-1 Big East), which totaled 46 points in the paint and shot 56% from the field in one of its most well-rounded offensive performances of the season.

The Red Storm opened the game on a 20-6 run, scoring all 20 of those points in the paint as forwards Dillon Mitchell, Bryce Hopkins and Zuby Ejiofor faced little resistance around the rim.

Three of the first six St. John’s baskets were dunks, the last of which came courtesy of Mitchell after three consecutive offensive rebounds by the Red Storm.

Butler (13-8, 4-6) would close the gap to 28-23 with 4:28 left in the half, but St. John’s responded with 3-pointers from Sadiku Ibine Ayo and Oziyah Sellers on back-to-back possessions.

After beginning the game 0-for-7 from beyond the arc, St. John’s made its final five 3-point attempts of the first half — including two from Ian Jackson — and took a 43-29 lead into halftime.

Ejiofor helped St. John’s pull away in the second half, scoring 11 points after the break. Those included a three-point play in which Ejiofor finished a floater through contact, followed by a wide-open dunk off of a nifty pass from Mitchell.

Ejiofor finished with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, six rebounds, five assists and three blocks in 28 minutes.

Mitchell, whose return to the starting lineup seven games ago has coincided with the Johnnies’ winning streak, added 14 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

Jackson led St. John’s with 18 points, while Joson Sanon added 13 off the bench. St. John’s shot 9 of 20 from 3-point range.

Similarly crucial was the Red Storm’s team defense against Butler star Finely Bizjack, who entered Wednesday as the Big East’s second-leading scorer at 17.5 points per game.

Bizjack managed only two points in the first half and finished with 11.

Michael Ajayi led Butler with 19 points, but that wasn’t enough on a night the Bulldogs shot 44% from the field and went 15-30 from the free-throw line.

Wednesday’s win completed the Red Storm’s regular-season sweep of the Bulldogs, whom they previously defeated, 84-70, in Indianapolis on Jan. 6.

That win kicked off the Johnnies’ seven-game winning streak, which has propelled them into sole possession of second place in the Big East, behind only No. 2 UConn (10-0 in conference play).

St. John’s led Wednesday for all but 61 seconds — that’s how long it took until the game’s first basket — which was a far cry from its previous two victories.

The Red Storm overcame a 15-point second-half deficit in last week’s 65-60 win over Seton Hall at the Garden, then rallied back from a 16-point second-half deficit in Saturday’s 88-83 win at Xavier.

St. John’s has six days off before it faces DePaul on the road on Tuesday. After that, the Johnnies are set to return to the Garden on Feb. 6 for their first meeting with UConn.