Coming off their most deflating loss of the season, St. John’s showed resiliency and secured the win they needed in the worst way on Tuesday night, dispatching Butler by a score of 84-70 with a dominant,
two-way second-half performance.
After conceding 42 first-half points to Butler on 54.2% shooting, the Red Storm shifted gears and frustrated the Bulldogs’ offense in the second half with full-court pressing, quick defensive switches, and ball-hawking in the passing lanes. St. John’s profited with 27 points off 21 total turnovers from Butler, 13 of those giveaways occurring in the second half due to shaky play from their ball-handlers.
Plenty of criticism was directed toward Zuby Ejiofor’s teammates for not picking up the scoring slack in their loss against Providence. That was not the case on Tuesday. Five players, including Ejiofor with his team-best 18 points, scored in double figures.
Ruben Prey and Lefteris Liotopoulos kept St. John’s in the game after they fell behind 35-28 with 4:31 remaining in the first half, combining for 16 points off the bench. The European duo gave the Red Storm momentum heading into halftime, with Liotopoulos kicking the ball out to Prey in the corner for a buzzer-beating corner three to tie the game.
No player needed a strong performance more than Bryce Hopkins, whose last outing against his former team Providence went as inauspiciously as one could imagine. After getting hooked with two quick fouls in the first half, Hopkins scored 15 of his 17 second-half points in the second half, his best offensive night since his game against Baylor in November. Six of those points came in the 15-3 run the Red Storm used to cement the victory.
The Red Storm will complete the second leg of their Midwest road trip when they take on the Creighton Bluejays (9-6, 3-1 Big East) in Omaha on Saturday, January 10. Tip-off from CHI Health Arena is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Eastern, and the game will be broadcast on FS1.
