Butler Keeps St. John’s Winless in the Big East

Saturday afternoon, the Johnnies hosted the Butler Bulldogs at Carnesecca Arena for a sold out game that keeps St. John’s winless in the Big East with a 7-17 record overall. St. John’s couldn’t recover from the first half that led Butler to an 89-56 victor. Roosevelt Jones had a triple-double, concluding with 10 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Bulldogs.

Kassoum Yakwe made 7-of-8 free throws and had a team-high of 11 points to lead St. John’s. Malik Ellison scored eight points, while Federico Mussini and Ron Mvouika put up seven points each.

Kelan Martin had a game-high of 18 points, leading Butler (16-7, 5-6). Jordan Gathers had 16 points and Tyler Wideman added 11, giving 4 of the Bulldogs 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 made by Durand Johnson and Ellison gave St. John’s a four-point lead to start. Minutes later, Yakwe made a layup and Mvouika followed him with a triple. Butler answered with the game-changing 31-5 run, which was finished by a Wideman layup-and-one, giving the Bulldogs a 38-17 lead with only 4:06 left in the half. Butler took a 48-26 lead into the break.

Butler scored 14-straight points early on in the second half and maintained a lead the rest of the game. Butler scored 32 points off St. John’s 21 turnovers.

St. John’s returns to action with a road game facing Georgetown at 7 p.m. at the Verizon Center (FS1).