St. John's used a late 10-1 run to pull away in a 69-57 win over Butler Tuesday night at Carnesecca Arena in Queens, N.Y.
The Red Storm's pressure forced the Bulldogs into 16 turnovers, which proved to be the deciding factor.
"We made some poor decisions with the ball tonight," said Butler coach LaVall Jordan. "Not all of the turnovers were due to their pressure. I thought we allowed them to dictate and speed us up. We will grow our toughness and stay the course."
Jair Bolden led Butler with 17 points, including five three-pointers.
Bryce Nze pulled down 14 rebounds, his highest total in a Butler uniform. Butler had a 39-30 rebounding advantage.
Seven straight makes by the Bulldogs pulled the visitors within four at 55-51 with just over nine minutes remaining. Butler then cooled by making just two of their next 11 attempts from the floor as St. John's was able to put together the decisive 10-1 run.
Julian Champagnie led the Red Storm (7-6, 2-5 BIG EAST) with 18 points. The Red Storm shot 45 percent from the field, but turned the ball over only eight times.
St. John's closed the first half on a 9-0 run, including a pull-up three-pointer from Vince Cole at the horn to take a 41-31 halftime lead. The Red Storm hit seven of their 13 attempts from behind the arc in the first half. Fourteen of Bolden's points came in the opening 20 minutes as he kept the Bulldogs within reach.
Aaron Thompson's second foul of the game came less than five minutes into the contest, sending him to the bench for all but eight minutes in the opening half for a team that was already missing third-leading scorer
Chuck Harris, who sat the game out with a knee bruise. Thompson's fourth foul coincided with the beginning of the St. John's second-half run.
Bryce Golden (12) and Thompson (10) also landed in double figures for the Bulldogs.
Myles Tate had eight points, six rebounds and four assists.
The Bulldogs return to Hinkle Fieldhouse for a Saturday tip with Top 10 Creighton. Tickets are still available for the 4 p.m. tip, which will also air on FS1.
