Glenn Taylor Jr. made five 3-pointers and finished with a season-high 17 points and RJ Luis Jr. scored 15 as visiting St. John’s beat reeling Butler 82-59 on Wednesday night in Indianapolis for its third straight win.
Chris Ledlum scored 10 and Joel Soriano pulled down 13 rebounds for the Red Storm (17-12, 9-9), who recorded 31 bench points while 10 different players scored. Taylor, who averaged 4.1 points entering the contest, missed just two of his seven 3-point attempts and was the most consistent performer on the evening for St. John’s, which has averaged 84 points in winning three straight after a 2-8 stretch.
Former St. John’s starter Posh Alexander had 15 points and Pierre Brooks scored 13 for the Bulldogs (16-13, 7-11), who shot 39.2 percent from the floor, committed 15 turnovers and were outrebounded 40-33 in extending their season-high losing streak to five games. The last four of those defeats came by an average margin of 16.8 points.
St. John’s led 39-33 at halftime but scored 20 of the second-half’s first 30 points. Butler got within 43-37, but Jordan Dingle knocked down a 3-pointer and Luis followed with a basket. Shortly after, the Red Storm used an 8-0 run that put them ahead 59-43 with 13:08 remaining in regulation to take control.
Luis ignited that surge with a fastbreak layup, while Dingle recorded back-to-back buckets for St. John’s, which has also won back-to-back road games for the first time this season.
Things only got worse for Butler, as it allowed the Red Storm to shoot 45.7 percent in the second half.
Both teams shot 42.9 percent in the first half, but a 12-2 run, highlighted by five consecutive points from reserve Zuby Ejiofor, gave St. John’s a 25-13 lead with 8:35 remaining before halftime.
The Red Storm outscored the Bulldogs 21-0 in bench points and 11-2 on second-chance points in the first half. However, Alexander and Brooks helped Butler close on an 11-7 spurt to make it a six-point game at the break.
–Field Level Media