Queens, NY – The St John’s Red Storm (10-4) came out on top Tuesday night in a Big East conference match-up against the Butler Bulldogs (10-4) 86-70.
The Red Storm had a balanced offensive attack that saw six players reach double figures on the night. Leading that attack was senior guard Daniss Jenkins who finished with a team high 17 points (6-12 FG), five rebounds and seven assists. Jenkins continues to showcase his ability to effectively run the offense as he’s done all season. He has a good sense as to when to reset broken plays in the half court sets and get the ball moving to the right spaces on the court. He is also great at taking care of the basketball and minimizing his and the team’s turnovers when he’s in the game. His pace with the basketball and his court vision leads to his high assist and low turnover numbers.
Another big contributor to the Red Storm’s victory was RJ Luis Jr., a sophomore guard. Taking a team high 15 field goal attempts, Luis Jr. constantly found himself weaving into the lane and to the rim for tough finishes. He effectively used his strength to keep defenders on his back on his pick & roll drives. From there he either could use that strength and ball handling to get to the rim for a layup or a foul or stop on the dime for a pull up mid-range shot. Freshman forward Brady Dunlap came off the bench for St John’s and provided instant offense. Finishing with 13 points (5-7 FG, 3-5 3PT) Dunlap had his best scoring game of the season, taking season highs in field goal attempts and makes and three pointers made. His role in this offense can still grow if he consistently takes and makes those outside shots.
Rounding out the scoring for the Red Storm was senior Joel Soriano with 14 points, followed by fellow seniors Chris Ledlum (13 points) and Nahiem Alleyne with 10. The Bulldogs offense couldn’t maintain a rhythm against the zone defense of St John’s which led them to shot clock violation turnovers, bad passes or ending possessions taking tough contested shots. Senior guard DJ Davis was the high scorer for Butler finishing with a game high 25 points (10-17 FG). Davis was the only Butler player who seemed to be able to get open looks and find holes in the Red Storm zone defense. Whenever the Red Storm guards would close out or go over the screen in the pick and roll, Davis was also able to get good dribble penetration and get good close shots to go down while moving downhill. However, his effort alone wasn’t enough to carry his team to the win tonight.
Butler looks to rebound from tonight’s loss Friday night at home in another Big East matchup vs No. 4-rated UConn (12-2) while St John’s goes on the road to face Villanova (9-4) on Saturday afternoon as they look to extend their win streak.
This article was written by Frank Amankwah, a correspondent and scout for NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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