Hoosier State Today

St. John's and their pressure defense gave the host Red Storm a 77-61 win over Butler Tuesday night at Carnesecca Arena in Queens, N.Y.

The result puts the Bulldogs at 10-8 on the season and 2-5 in BIG EAST play. St. John's improves to 12-6 (2-5 BIG EAST).

KEY STAT: 

Butler committed 22 turnovers, their second-most of the season. St. John's had 16 steals. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Joel Soriano led St. John's with 20 points and 10 rebounds. He entered the game as the nation's leader in double-doubles.
• Led by Soriano's 10-for-13 performance from the field, St. John's shot 53 percent.
• Chuck Harris led the Bulldogs with 17 points, including 4-for-7 from three-point range.
• Simas Lukosius had 15 points, while Ali Ali scored 10 points, his season-high for the Bulldogs.
• Jalen Thomas had eight points and a team-high six rebounds for Butler.
• St. John's committed 18 turnovers of their own, which included 12 Butler steals.
• Posh Alexander (six) and Andre Curbelo (four) combined for 10 of the St. John's steals.

HOW IT TRANSPIRED:

• Sparked by 14 points from Soriano, St. John's held a 39-29 halftime advantage.
• A 16-5 run in the first half gave the Red Storm a 26-18 lead that they would not relinquish the rest of the way.
• A Harris three-pointer with 14:47 to play cut the Red Storm's lead to 48-41, but the next six points belonged to St. John's.
• From that point, the lead only reached single digits one more time.

OF NOTE:

• Butler is 10-0 when leading at halftime and 0-8 with a deficit after the opening 20 minutes this season.
• Harris has led the team in scoring five times this season and 26 times in his Butler career.
• The 16 steals by St. John's were the most by a Butler opponent since St. John's also had 16 against the Bulldogs Dec. 31, 2019, a game that Butler won in Queens.

UP NEXT: 

Butler returns to Hinkle Fieldhouse for a Friday night contest with Villanova. A limited number of tickets remain for that match-up, which will be broadcast nationally on FS1. The Villanova match-up begins a two-game homestand that also includes a Tuesday night tip against Creighton. 

Original source can be found here.