Box Score

St. John's knocked off Butler, 76-73, in the BIG EAST opener for both teams Thursday night in Queens, N.Y. Shamorie Ponds and Bashir Ahmed combined for 45 points for the host Red Storm. Butler is now 11-2 on the season, while St. John's improves to 7-7.

After Tyler Wideman's putback gave the Bulldogs a 71-69 lead with a minute to play, St. John's would hit several free throws down the stretch and come up with a key offensive rebound off their own missed free throw to win a frantic game decided in the final minute.

"I have to give St. John's a lot of credit; they definitely made more plays down the stretch than we did," said Butler coach Chris Holtmann. "I was disappointed in our approach tonight. We obviously have a lot of areas where we need to get better."

Wideman led four Bulldogs in double figures with a career-high 20 points. He added nine rebounds. Kelan Martin added 13 points, while Kethan Savage and Avery Woodson each had 10 on the night. Martin also had nine rebounds.

Ponds had 26 points to lead St. John's, including a 6-of-6 performance from the free throw line and 19 points in the second half. Ahmed had 19. St. John's shot 54 percent in the game.

The Bulldogs shot 46 percent, but only 6-of-21 from behind the arc. The teams each had 31 rebounds.

The game was tied at 38-38 at the half. Butler's lead climbed to 10 with 10:34 to play as a Woodson three-pointer capped an 11-2 Butler run. That was when St. John's began to chip away.

St. John's cut the lead to only three five minutes later. A Martin three-pointer with 2:56 remaining gave Butler a 69-64 lead, but the home team scored the next five points to tie the game.

Wideman's putback made it 71-69 with a minute to play. Marcus LoVett answered for St. John's with a jumper. Following a missed three-pointer as the shot clock wound down, Butler fouled Malik Ellison as the teams went for the rebound. Ellison made the first for a 72-71 lead and then St. John's got the offensive rebound off the second attempt. Ponds made two ensuing free throws for a 74-71 lead.

St. John's fouled Butler up three to prevent an attempt from beyond the arc. Tyler Lewis made the two free throws for Butler. Forced to foul, Butler put Ponds on the line once again and he once again sank both, this time for a 76-73 lead. Butler had two three-point attempts in the closing five seconds of the game – one a halfcourt heave – but neither fell. The three-point margin of victory was matched St. John's largest lead of the night.

The Bulldogs return to action Sunday, opening 2017 and the home portion of their BIG EAST slate with a match-up against Providence. Tickets are still available for the 3 p.m. New Year's Day contest. CBS Sports Network will air the contest.