Red Storm Beats Butler, 69-57, at Carnesecca Arena

Tuesday, January 12

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

7-6, 2-5BE

Butler

3-7, 2-5BE

Butler

St. John's

1/12/2021 10:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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St. John’s improves to 6-1 at home on the year

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's men's basketball team remained undefeated at home against unranked opponents on Tuesday, snapping a two-game skid with a 69-57 wire-to-wire win over Butler at Carnesecca Arena.

The leading scorer in the BIG EAST, Julian Champagnie paced the Red Storm once again with 18 points, five rebounds and a pair of steals in 34 minutes of action. The sophomore from Brooklyn has finished in double figures 11 times in 11 tries this season and has scored 18 or more points seven times.

Champagnie and freshman guard Posh Alexander used some standout defense to key a crucial Red Storm run in the second half. Alexander finished with 10 points, four rebounds, three steals, two assists and just one turnover in 29 minutes.

Making his first appearance in the starting lineup since Dec. 11 and playing a season-high 23 minutes, Josh Roberts scored eight points on 3-of-4 shooting and a 2-for-3 effort from the charity stripe. The Troy, Ala., native also grabbed three boards and finished with a plus-minus rating of +13.

Rasheem Dunn scored seven points and grabbed four boards while tallying team highs with five assists and four steals.

Vince Cole registered eight points, six rebounds three assists and no turnovers while Marcellus Earlington added seven points and three rebounds in 16 minutes of action. Greg Williams Jr. scored six points despite being limited to just 16 minutes because of foul trouble.

Entering the game ranked 33^rd nationally averaging just 11.1 turnovers per game, Butler coughed up a season-high 16 possessions against the Johnnies' pressure defense. The Bulldogs' 57 points set a season-low for a St. John's opponent, as the Red Storm held butler to a 25.0 percent clip from beyond the arc (6-of-24).

St. John's (7-6, 2-5 BIG EAST) improved to 6-1 in Queens on the year. Butler (3-7, 2-5 BIG EAST) remained winless away from Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The Johnnies scored the game's first basket on a Dunn layup 52 seconds into the action and never relinquished the lead.

St. John's found it hard to miss early, making seven of its first 11 field goal tries and jumping ahead by six, 18-12, following a pair of Champagnie treys with seven minutes gone in the game.

Butler pulled within one, 23-22, and the teams traded buckets over the next five minutes before St. John's closed the half on a 9-0 run, capped by a 40-foot heave from Cole to beat the buzzer and give the Red Storm a 41-31 lead at the intermission.

Champagnie started the second half with five straight points for the Red Storm, helping the Johnnies build their cushion to as many as 13, 53-40, following a Dylan Addae-Wusu 3-point play with 13:31 to go.

Facing its biggest deficit of the evening, Butler rattled off an 11-2 run over the next four minutes, making seven straight shots and pulling within four, 55-51, with 9:23 remaining in the second half.

Following a Mike Anderson timeout, the next five minutes were all St. John's, as the Red Storm answered with a 10-1 spurt of its own to build the lead back to 13 with just over four minutes to play. The run was anchored by some stellar defensive efforts, most notably three steals from Alexander and a highlight-reel block from Champagnie. In total, St. John's forced six Butler turnovers on the tear.

St. John's would not allow the lead to dip lower than nine the rest of the way, as the Red Storm closed out its fourth home win in its last five tries against the Bulldogs dating back to 2016.

The Red Storm will look to keep the Carnesecca Arena magic alive on Saturday when it welcomes Marquette to Queens for a 2 p.m. tip on FS1.