St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
10-12, 0-10
Butler
15-7, 5-4
Butler Downs St. John's, 70-45, at Hinkle Fieldhouse
1/27/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Final Stats | Box Score | Quotes | USATSI Gallery 
INDIANAPOLIS - Playing its final unranked opponent before a three-game stretch featuring three top-10 opponents, the St. John's men's basketball team struggled offensively on Saturday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse, falling to Butler, 70-45.
Tariq Owens was a bright spot on an otherwise lackluster afternoon, tallying 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting and grabbing nine boards. The redshirt junior also blocked a pair of shots on the afternoon.
Owens was the only member of the Red Storm to reach double figures, as Bashir Ahmed finished with nine points while Justin Simon added eight points, five rebounds and five assists.
The team's 45 points marked a season-low and the program's lowest output since a 66-40 loss at Notre Dame on March 5, 2013.
After being held scoreless for more than two minutes to start the contest, Butler knocked down four-straight field goal attempts, three of which were from beyond the arc, to take an 11-2 lead at the game's first media timeout.
The Red Storm struggled offensively to start the contest, making just one of their first 12 attempts from the field and allowing the Bulldogs to extend their game-opening run to 19-2 seven and a half minutes into the game.
The Bulldogs continued to dominate the Red Storm over the remainder of the opening period, building its lead as high as 23 before entering the locker room with a 37-15 advantage.
The opening half marked the Red Storm's worst offensive effort since the aforementioned loss to Notre Dame in March of 2013, when the Johnnies scored 14 points in the second stanza. The Johnnies went 5-of-27 from the floor in the opening half on Saturday, including a 2-of-16 effort from two-point range.
On the other side of the break, Butler scored eight of the second half's first 11 points, moving ahead by 27, 45-18, with just over three and a half minutes gone in the period.
The Red Storm responded with a 9-1 run over the next few minutes to move within 19, 46-27, following six-straight points from Simon.
Unfortunately for the Johnnies, that was as close as they would get down the stretch, as the Bulldogs pulled ahead by as many as 30 in the waning minutes of the contest.
The Red Storm kicks off a grueling stretch of schedule on Tuesday night, welcoming No. 8/8 Xavier, the first of three-straight top 10 opponents for the Johnnies, to Carnesecca Arena.
