St. John's furious second-half rally comes up short in loss to Butler
Marcellus Earlington #10 of the St. John's Red Storm reacts after his teams loss to the Butler Bulldogs during a men's basketball game at Carnesecca Arena in Queens, New York on Tuesday, Dec 31, 2019. Credit: Steven Ryan
St. John’s spent New Year’s Eve at home, playing on the court inside Carnesecca Arena, ending the decade by beginning its Big East itinerary.
After an impressive run in nonconference play, the unranked Red Storm looked overmatched in the first half against No. 11 Butler Tuesday night, scoring all of 16 points and falling into a 21-point hole.
Then they came out in the second half and made Butler look overmatched, rallying from 23 down to take a five-point lead.
But the Bulldogs ultimately enjoyed this New Year’s basketball party a whole lot more. They rang in 2020 by pulling out a 60-58 victory, ending the Red Storm’s seven-game winning streak.
“I told my guys I’ve never been more proud of a team,” coach Mike Anderson said. “They fought. They never gave in.”
Butler, which was led by Kamar Baldwin’s 19 points, is 13-1 after four straight wins. The Red Storm, who were led by Nick Rutherford’s 15 points, six steals and five assists, fell to 11-3 despite forcing 24 turnovers.
“We found a way to win, a way to get it done,” Bulldogs coach LaVall Jordan said.
That St. John’s got so close to winning was even more impressive considering it was without second-leading scorer Mustapha Heron for the third straight game due to a sprained ankle, and got no points from top-scorer LJ Figueroa, who was plagued by foul trouble. The Red Storm also got outrebounded 46-24.
After falling behind, Butler kept coming and trailed 58-57 with two minutes left and the same with one minute left. Then Christian David hit a three from the right corner to give the Bulldogs the two-point lead with about 44 seconds to go.
“Welcome back to Big East basketball,” Jordan said.
Butler led 44-22 when the Red Storm finally turned up the temperature on defense. They went on 26-2 run, ending it with 19 straight points to take the lead. Rutherford made a steal and a dunk, David Caraher tied it with a three and Marcellus Earlington scored from in close to make it 48-46 St. John’s, its first lead since 2-0.
Greg Williams Jr. twice gave the Red Storm a five-point lead, the second time at 56-51.
“We just couldn’t finish,” Anderson said.
And to think St. John’s had struggled so much in the first half, shooting 6-for-27, including 0-for-10 on threes. Butler closed with a 23-2 run to go up 37-16. That run was highlighted by a trio of treys by Baldwin.
“We dug a hole and we got back in it,” Anderson said. “That was the most encouraging thing.”
