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St. John’s at Butler Friday Night on @FloHoops

2/8/2024 9:26:00 AM | By: Kit Stetzel

TICKETS | WATCH | LIVE STATS | GAME NOTES

INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler Bulldogs will wrap up their three game homestand on Friday night with a 7 PM tip vs. St. John's. Joey Lindstrom and Amber Stocks will be on the call inside Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Red Storm head to Indianapolis with a 14-10 record while the Bulldogs are at 9-13.

GameDay
Date: Friday, Feb. 9, 2024
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Indianapolis, Ind. - Hinkle Fieldhouse
Live Stats: ButlerSports.com – Statbroadcast
Watch: BEDN on FloHoops.com

Bulldog Bits
- Butler had five players score in double figures for the first time this season in the game vs. Creighton.
- Butler led #22 Creighton at halftime 37-33.
- Karsyn Norman and Riley Makalusky each scored in double figures for the third time this season vs. Creighton.
- Norman has made nine 3-pointers for BU over the team's last six games (15 this season).
- Butler and St. John's will both only play one game this week.
- Caroline Strande needs 3 points vs. St. John's to reach 600 career points.
- Strande ranks ninth in the BIG EAST in rebounding (7.2) and 13th in scoring (14.6).
- Strande hasn't missed a free throw over Butler's last seven games (16-for-16).
- The Bulldogs rank second in the BIG EAST in made 3-pointers per game (8.1) and in 3-point percentage (38.5).
- Rachel Kent has made a 3-pointer in 13-straight games. She ranks third in the conference in made 3-pointers with 53.
- Kent led Butler in rebounding vs. Creighton (6) and now has over 600 rebounds in her career.
- Kent has scored in double figures for Butler in five-straight games.
- Kent played 36 minutes vs. Creighton and didn't commit a turnover.

BIG EAST Standings
UConn 11-0, 19-4
Creighton 9-2, 18-3
St. John's 8-4, 14-10
Villanova 7-4, 14-8
Marquette 6-5, 17-5
Providence 5-5, 11-12
Georgetown 5-6, 15-7
Seton Hall 5-6, 13-9
DePaul 3-8, 11-13
Butler 1-10, 9-13
Xavier 0-10, 1-18

Scouting St. John's
The Red Storm have played great over the first half of the conference season and are currently in third place of the BIG EAST standings with an 8-4 record. The Johnnies are heading to Hinkle after taking a 78-63 loss at #11 UConn. The team has been better at home this year (9-2) than playing on the road (5-5), yet they head into the final stretch of the season with a 14-10 overall record. St. John's leads the BIG EAST in steals per game (8.5) and attack the rim regularly to rank second in free throw attempts.

All-Time Series
St. John's leads Butler in the all-time series 16-4. Butler's last win over the Johnnies came on Feb. 1, 2019 in overtime at St. John's. The Bulldogs won the contest 73-68 giving them the regular season sweep over the Red Storm. STJ has won the last eight meetings.

Last Meeting vs. St. John's
Butler led St. John's 15-14 after the first quarter in the first meeting at Carnesecca Arena, but the Red Storm limited BU to just 16 second half points to come up with a 60-42 victory in Queens. The Johnnies led by four at the half and used a 12-2 scoring run in the third to take a 48-33 lead. The Bulldogs fired back at the start of the fourth quarter to trim the deficit to just 10 points, but St. John's pulled away late to claim the victory. Sydney Jaynes and Karsyn Norman came off the bench to provide BU with 13 and 11 points respectively. Caroline Strande was the third Bulldog to score in double figures. She had 11 points and added six rebounds. St. John's had Jailah Donald and Ber'Nyah Mayo in the box score with 12 points each. The Bulldogs held Unique Drake to seven points on 3-of-10 shooting. Drake is the third leading scorer in the conference averaging 18.5 a night.

A Look Back at Last Week
The Bulldogs were in each game last week, taking a pair of 10-point home losses to BIG EAST opponents. They lost 57-67 to DePaul on Wednesday and 65-75 to #22 Creighton on Sunday. Caroline Strande, Sydney Jaynes, and Rachel Kent were the top offensive options for the Bulldogs last week. Strande averaged 11 points and five boards and led the 'Dawgs with four steals. Jaynes shot 46 percent from the field to average 10.5 ppg last week and Kent made five 3-pointers to average 10.0 ppg. Butler outscored the opposition 37-31 in the first quarter but struggled in the third (44-28).

Second Time Around
Butler made some adjustments against Creighton to play the Bluejays tough in the second meeting of the season. At DJ Sokol Arena, Butler only had one player score in double figures, but over the weekend five Bulldogs scored 10 or more at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The BU bench outscored the Creighton bench 30-6 on Sunday after being outscored by 12 in that category in the first meeting. The one consistent stat for the Bulldogs in each meeting vs. Creighton came in the turnover column. BU had just nine turnovers in each game vs. the Bluejays which is tied for the second-fewest in a game this season. Butler's season-low turnover total came at Wisconsin (5).

Bulldogs Off The Bench
Butler's bench has outscored the opposition's bench in six-straight games. This streak started with Butler's game at St. John's on Jan. 17. The Bulldogs scored 30 bench points in their last contest, marking the second-most this season trailing only the 53 points scored in the win over Roosevelt. Over the team's last six games, the bench has provided 20+ points four times.

Up After One
The Bulldogs have held a first quarter lead in three of their last six games. They had a lead at St. John's, at Xavier and recently at home vs. DePaul. They only trailed by two at Marquette and were down just one to #22 Creighton on Sunday. There has been a pattern involved in this streak as well. The 'Dawgs have had the lead in every other game since Jan. 17. If the streak continues, they are due to lead Friday night after trailing the Bluejays on Sunday.

Grab the Board
Caroline Strande is the top rebounding guard in the BIG EAST Conference. She has led Butler in rebounding 15 times this season (22 games) and in eight of Butler's 11 BIG EAST games. She has more rebounds this year (159) than her first three years combined (146).

Finding Wins in February
Butler went 6-14 in conference action a year ago with four of their six victories against BIG EAST opponents coming in the month of February. BU won four in a row from Feb. 11-24. They earned a road win at Providence and followed that contest with three victories at Hinkle Fieldhouse. This year, the schedule flips on Butler with the Bulldogs playing four of their last five games of February on the road. The lone home game will air on FS2 on the 21st when BU goes for the season sweep against Xavier.

Sharpshooters
Butler has three of best 3-point shooters in the BIG EAST Conference on their roster. Caroline Strande ranks fourth in the league 3-point field goal percentage (46.7) and Jordan Meulemans comes in at sixth (44.2). The third member of the trio is Rachel Kent at 39.8%. Those three student-athletes account for 123 of Butler's 179 3-pointers this year (68%). As a team, Butler has shot 50 percent or better from 3-point range five times this season. Four of the five contests came against conference opponents.

Tied a Team Record
Jordan Meulemans made eight 3-pointers in Butler's win over St. Thomas to match the single-game high in the BIG EAST this season. She ended the contest going 8-for-10 from behind the arc to score a career-high 24 points. Meulemans was just one 3-pointer shy of tying the single-game BU individual record and the 'Dawgs tied their team record with 16 made 3-pointers in the victory.

Up Next
Butler will play at Providence on Wednesday, Feb. 14. The 7 PM tip will stream on FloHoops.com. This will be the second meeting between the two programs. The Friars won 63-53 at Hinkle Fieldhouse back on Jan. 21. The game aired on FS1.

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