MARISA MILLER | SPORTS CO-EDITOR | mnmille1@butler.edu
The Butler men’s basketball team defeated St. John’s University on Feb. 6 with a score of 89-56. With the win, Butler improves to 16-7 overall and 5-6 in Big East play. St. John’s falls to 7-17 on the season and 0-11 in conference play.
Roosevelt Jones led the way for the Bulldogs with a triple-double, posting 10 points, a career-high 14 rebounds and 10 assists. It was the first triple-double by a Butler men’s player since 1984.
WOW! @rozayyjones21 has made history with the first triple-double for @ButlerMBB since 1984 – 10 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists!
— BIG EAST MBB (@BIGEASTMBB) February 6, 2016
“Rose’s impact is on both ends of the court,” head coach Chris Holtmann told ButlerSports.com. “That’s a really rare accomplishment. We’ll go as far as our seniors take us. It’s their job to lead in practice and in games this time of year. They did that today.”
Kelan Martin also had a big day with 18 points and five rebounds. For the first time in the past two games, the bench also presented strongly with Jordan Gathers adding a career-high 16 points and Jackson Davis contributing eight rebounds. Tyler Lewis also added seven points, five assists and four steals in his first game back after being out the last four with a concussion.
St. John’s held the early 12-7 lead in the first half, but Butler would soon go on a 31-5 run over the next 11 minutes to push the score to 38-17. Butler had the 48-26 lead going into the halftime break.
The second half was more of the same for Butler, scoring nine of the first 12 points to seal the victory very early in the second half. Butler made a season-high 12 3-pointers for the game to go along with 48 percent shooting from the field.
St. John’s was led by Kassoum Yakwe with 11 points, three rebounds and four blocks.
Solid trip to NYC…. #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/UAzewCU4zB
— Butler Basketball (@ButlerMBB) February 7, 2016
The Bulldogs will be back in action on Feb. 10 when they travel to Seton Hall University. Tip is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET and will air on Fox Sports 1.