St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
7-17, 0-11BE
Butler
16-7, 5-6BE
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Butler | 48 | 41 | 89 |
| St. John's | 26 | 30 | 56 |
Butler Upends St. John's at Carnesecca Arena
2/6/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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QUEENS, N.Y. - St. John's couldn't recover from a 31-5 run in the first half that propelled Butler to an 89-56 victory on Saturday afternoon at a sold out Carnesecca Arena. Roosevelt Jones registered a triple-double, finishing with 10 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Bulldogs.
Kassoum Yakwe (Bamako, Mali) made 7-of-8 free throws and totaled a team-high 11 points to lead St. John's (7-17, 0-11). Malik Ellison (Voorhees, N.J.) added eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers, while Federico Mussini (Reggio Emilia, Italy) and Ron Mvouika (Paris, France) contributed seven points apiece. All 11 Red Storm players that saw action found their way into the scoring column.
"The young guys are getting their experience and taking their lumps, but also learning what winning players and teams do," said St. John's Head Coach Chris Mullin.
Kelan Martin scored a game-high 18 points to help pace Butler (16-7, 5-6). Jordan Gathers added 16 points and Tyler Wideman totaled 11 to give the Bulldogs four in double-figures. Butler shot 47.7 percent (31-of-65) from the floor, including a 12-of-25 effort (48.0 percent) from long range.
Baskets by Durand Johnson (Baltimore, Md.) and Ellison gave the Red Storm a four-point lead out of the gate. Minutes later, Yakwe converted a layup and Mvouika followed with a triple as St. John's made five of its first eight shots to take a 12-7 advantage at the 15:38 mark.
Butler answered with its game-changing 31-5 run, which was capped by a Wideman layup-and-one that gave the Bulldogs a 38-17 lead with 4:06 remaining in the half. Mussini ended an 11-minute field goal drought to get the Red Storm within 19 with a 3-pointer, but Butler took a 48-26 advantage into the break.
"We got off to a pretty good start," said Mullin. "It looked like there was some carryover from the Xavier game and then we just totally fell apart. I'm not quite sure why, but I saw some fatigue. That's something teams go through. As well as [Butler] played, I think we helped out quite a bit."
The Bulldogs scored 14-straight points early in the second half and maintained a comfortable lead the rest of the way. Butler outrebounded the Red Storm 44-33, while scoring 32 points off St. John's 21 turnovers.
St. John's returns to action on Monday, traveling to face Georgetown for a 7 p.m. game at the Verizon Center (FS1).
