St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
12-15, 6-8BE
No. 24/25 Butler
20-6, 9-5BE
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's | 35 | 51 | 86 |
| Butler | 54 | 56 | 110 |
No. 24/25 Butler Defeats St. John's, 110-86
2/15/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Final Stats | Box Score (PDF) | Quotes | USATSI Gallery 
INDIANAPOLIS - Entering the contest having won two of its last three in BIG EAST play, the St. John's Red Storm ran into a red-hot Butler squad, as the Bulldogs sank 58 percent of their tries from the floor and shot 13-of-26 from three-point range en route to a 110-86 victory at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Federico Mussini led the way for the Red Storm (12-15, 6-8), scoring 20 points in a game for the third time this season on 7-of-13 shooting, including a 4-of-7 effort from beyond the arc. The sophomore guard hit his 100th 3-pointer in a Red Storm uniform late in the first half.
Freshman guard Shamorie Ponds sank all nine of his free throw attempts to finish with 18 points. The rookie from Brooklyn also dished out four assists and recorded four steals in a game for the eighth time this season. The other half of the Red Storm's electric young backcourt duo, Marcus LoVett tallied 15 points in 30 minutes of action.
Bashir Ahmed added an efficient 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting in addition to four rebounds and a pair of assists.
The Red Storm struggled on the boards, as Butler (20-6, 9-5) pulled down 40 rebounds to the Johnnies' 25.
Both squads attempted an abnormally high number of free throws, as St. John's went 27-of-37 from the charity stripe while Butler converted on 29 of its 40 tries. Both teams set season-highs for attempts with those totals.
Butler started off hot on Wednesday, sinking its first three field goal attempts to move ahead 7-0 and force a St. John's timeout 1:28 into the game.
After St. John's cut the lead to five, 12-7, Avery Woodson knocked down a pair of triples on a 9-0 Butler run, as the Bulldogs pulled ahead by 14, 21-7, with less than eight minutes gone in the contest.
St. John's trimmed the deficit to single digits once again, but trailing by seven, 32-25, the Johnnies saw Butler unleash a 7-0 run to move back ahead by 14 with just over four minutes to play in the half.
By the end of the opening stanza, the Bulldogs had extended their lead to 19.
After a back and forth beginning to the second half, Butler pulled ahead by as many as 22, 86-64, with 9:16 to play. From there, Mussini nailed two 3-pointers on an 8-0 run for the Johnnies, pulling the Red Storm within 14, 86-72, with 8:25 on the clock, but that was as close as the Johnnies would get as the Bulldogs rebuilt and eventually extended their lead over the closing minutes.
St. John's returns to action on Tuesday evening, traveling to Milwaukee for an 8 p.m. showdown with Marquette on FS1 and 570 AM WMCA.
