NCAA College Basketball Box Scores

National Basketball Association

BOXSCORE | RECAP

Butler 110, St. John's 86

When: 8:30 PM ET, Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Where: Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Officials: # Pat Driscoll, # Jamie Luckie, # Steve McJunkins
Attendance: 7719

By The Sports Xchange

INDIANAPOLIS -- Avery Woodson triggered an offensive explosion for Butler on Wednesday night.

Woodson, a graduate transfer, sank 6 of 10 3-point attempts en route to a season-high 20 points in No. 24 Butler's 110-86 rout of St. John's in Big East action at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The Bulldogs hit 13 of 26 3-point tries.

"I have to give a lot of credit to my teammates, they set great screens and got me open, and Coach (Chris Holtmann) called my number," Woodson said.

The Bulldogs (20-6, 9-5 Big East) posted a season-high point total and the highest figure in their four Big East seasons, breaking the old mark of 95 set against Marquette in 2016.

"I'm proud of our guys' effort," Holtmann said. "I think we shared the ball at a high level, and it was good to see our guys make some shots. We were good defensively in the first half, not so much in the second half."

Senior Andrew Chrabascz shared scoring honors with Woodson, hitting 6 of 12 shots en route to his 20 points.

"I think we took what's given," Chrabascz said.

Kelan Martin added 19 points, and fellow junior Tyler Wideman chipped in with 14 points and a team-high 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs.

Federico Mussini scored 20 and Shamorie Ponds added 18 for St. John's (12-15, 6-8).

"Butler played a great game. We felt pretty good about how we were playing coming in, but we just didn't get it done," St. John's coach Chris Mullin said. "All the credit goes to them."

Butler sank nine 3-pointers in the first half, including five by Woodson, to take a 54-35 halftime lead. The Bulldogs hit eight of their last nine shots of the first half.

The second half was foul fest, including three technical fouls. T's were called on Wideman and Ponds early in the half. Then with 15:02 left, Mullin was called for a technical foul.

"There's more technical fouls called in February than any other month of the year," Holtmann said. "It's a long season, and it's a stressful time for everyone. Officials are irritable and I'm irritable."

Butler led by as many as 22 points several times, but the final margin was the largest.

Two St. John's players, Bashir Ahmed and Amar Alibegovic, fouled out. There were 28 fouls by St. John's and 25 by Butler. The Bulldogs made 29 of 40 free throws, while the Red Storm were 27 of 37.

The Bulldogs hit 18 of 32 shots (56.3 percent) in the opening half while the Red Storm were 9 of 26 (34.6 percent). Butler had a 24-8 rebounding edge before the break, including nine offensive rebounds.

"That's been a problem of ours," Mullin said of rebounding. "We're a long and lean team, so that's going to be times when we struggle. We got to be quick to the ball. I tell them we can't get outrebounded, but we can't get outrebounded and lose 50-50 balls. You can make up for it other areas."

Overall, Butler outshot St. John's, 57.6 percent to 44.1 percent, and posted 40-25 rebounding edge.

The Bulldogs, who never trailed, hit their first three shots to take a 7-0 lead, causing St. John's to take a timeout in the first two minutes.

"I was just trying to stop the bleeding and get them to focus," Mullin said.

Leading 12-7, the Bulldogs reeled off a 9-0 run with two 3-pointers by Woodson. The Red Storm closed the deficit to 29-22 with 6:50 to go. Butler held a 25-13 edge the rest of the half.

The Bulldogs, who now lead the all-time series 5-4, had won four in a row in the series against the Red Storm before losing 76-73 on Dec. 29.

Butler will host DePaul on Sunday, while St. John's will play at Marquette on Tuesday night.

NOTES: Butler is 12-2 at home, but the victory snapped a two-game home losing streak ... The Bulldogs have their 11th 20-win season in the past 12 years. ... St. John's ranked third in the nation with 6.3 blocked shots per game before Wednesday. Tariq Owens was averaging 2.4 blocks per game, while teammate Kassoum Yakwe was averaging 2.2 blocks. The Red Storm had two blocked shots Wednesday. ... St. John's G Marcus LoVett, who captured the past two Big East Freshman of the Week awards, scored 15 points Wednesday.

Top Game Performances

St. John's		Butler
Federico Mussini 20	Scoring	Andrew Chrabascz 20
Shamorie Ponds 4	Assists	Tyler Lewis 9
Tariq Owens 6	Rebounds	Tyler Wideman 10
Shamorie Ponds 9	Free Throws Made	Kelan Martin 8
Shamorie Ponds 4	Steals	Kethan Savage 2
Bashir Ahmed 1	Blocks	Sean McDermott 1

Team Stats Summary

Team	Points	FG%	3PM-3PA	FTM-FTA	Assists	Rebounds	Blocks	Steals	Turnovers
St. John's	86	44.1	7-20	27-37	12	23	2	9	12
Butler	110	57.6	13-26	29-40	17	38	2	6	13