#11 Butler @ St. John’s

Who will WIN this matchup?

#11 Butler Bulldogs (12-1)

@ St. John’s Red Storm (11-2)

Current odds:

#11 Butler Bulldogs: (-180)

St. John’s Red Storm: (+160)

• The line for this game is Butler by 4 points.

• No. 11 Butler’s only blemish during its non-conference slate was a one-point loss at the sixth-ranked team in the country. The streaking Bulldogs will try to carry their momentum into Big East play when they visit St. John’s on Tuesday in the conference opener for both teams. Butler has won three in a row since that 53-52 loss at Baylor on Dec. 10, holding Southern, Purdue and Louisiana-Monroe to an average of 46 points during the streak. “Tomorrow we’ll have an opportunity to clean up some stuff from this game and then we’ll get ready to head into Big East play, and get ready for a really good St. John’s team,” Bulldogs coach LaVall Jordan told reporters after Saturday’s 67-36 victory over the Warhawks at home. “I know they’ll be ready. We talk about the first season, the non-conference season, and finish it the way we want to finish it.”

• The Red Storm are on an impressive roll of their own with seven consecutive triumphs, the latest a 70-67 win over No. 24 Arizona on Dec. 22. Senior guard Mustapha Heron, the team’s second-ranked scorer at 15 points per game, has missed the last two games with an ankle issue and remains questionable for this one.

• Senior guard Kamar Baldwin leads the Bulldogs in scoring (13.9), one of six players averaging at least seven points per game. One player not in that category is center Derrik Smits (6.7), who scored a season-high 16 points in 13 minutes against Louisiana-Monroe in his third game since joining Butler following a transfer. “This game helps me. It’s very helpful for my mentality, obviously,” Smits, who averaged 12.2 points and 5.7 rebounds for Valparaiso last season, told reporters. “It builds confidence. I figured, eventually, if they start falling I’d start playing a little more. It’s good when they start coming at me.”

• LJ Figueroa scored a team-high 21 points in the win over Arizona and he tops the team with 15.5 per game. Fellow junior guard Rasheem Dunn has scored at least 10 points in four straight games to push his average to 11.4, although he’s shooting just 35.1 percent from the floor on the season. Sophomore forward Josh Roberts leads the way with 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per contest.

• Heron scored 28 points to lead St. John’s to a 77-73 win in the previous meeting last February.

• Baldwin and F Sean McDermott, Butler’s second-ranked scorer (11.3), are a combined 41-of-45 at the foul line.

• The home team has won the last six matchups.