Queens, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Kellen Dunham scored a season-high 28 points, and the Butler Bulldogs upset No. 15 St. John's, 73-69, on Saturday.
Dunham could not be stopped from long range, hitting 6-of-7 from beyond the arc to help Butler (11-4, 1-1 Big East) rebound from a loss at Villanova on Wednesday.
The Bulldogs also got 15 points from Alex Barlow and 14 from Roosevelt Jones.
Butler coach Chris Holtmann earned his first win since officially being named the head coach. Prior to Friday, he was working under the interim label since Brandon Miller took a leave of absence before the season started.
The Red Storm (11-3, 0-2), entered the game yielding the lowest opponents' field goal percentage in the conference at 37.1 percent but allowed Butler to shoot 48.1 percent from the floor.
D'Angelo Harrison scored 31 points to lead all scorers for St. John's. He made 9-of-11 from the free throw line and shot 10-of-21 from the field. Phil Greene IV added 14 points for the Red Storm, and they also received 11 points, seven rebounds and five blocks from Chris Obekpa.
Neither team got a single point from its bench. St. John's was playing its first game without second-leading scorer Rysheed Jordan, who took a leave of absence from the team on Friday.
"I thought our team fought hard under tough circumstances," said Red Storm coach Steve Lavin. "There is no time to wallow in self pity, you just have to get ready for the next game and try to get your mind set and calibrated to better move forward."
After leading by four at the break, St. John's offense came out of halftime sluggish.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs started the second half shooting 7-of-9 to take a 42-36 lead, and they did not trail again.
"I'm really proud of our guys," said Holtmann. "Just scroll across the bottom line and see how hard road wins are to come by in conference play. Road wins are really hard."
Several times in the final minutes, the Red Storm were able to cut their deficit to one possession. Harrison's 3-pointer with 4:43 left pulled them within two, but Jones' jumper on the ensuing possession extended the lead again.
Harrison got St. John's within two points again when he hit a pair of free throws with 2 1/2 minutes left, but Dunham responded immediately with his sixth 3-pointer to keep the Red Storm at arm's length.
The Bulldogs hit 9-of-10 from the charity stripe the rest of the way to put the game away.
The Red Storm jumped out to an 11-4 lead, but their shooting slump allowed Butler to overcome its own struggles and get back in the game. After Harrison's bucket gave St. John's that seven-point lead, it missed six straight shots before Greene knocked one down to retake the lead at 13-12.
Butler then went on an 8-0 run that included a pair of triples from Dunham to go up 17-15.
After Jones' layup put Butler up 24-19, the Red Storm went on an 11-0 run that was not stopped until Barlow's floater in the closing seconds of the half cut the Red Storm lead to 30-26 at the break.
Game Notes
Butler earned its first win in four tries against St. John's ... Neither team led by more than seven at any point ... The Red Storm's Sir'Dominic Pointer tallied nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks ... Besides Dunham, the Bulldogs shot 1-of-5 from beyond the arc ... Both teams will take the court again on Jan. 6 with St. John's hosting Villanova at Madison Square Garden and Butler returning home to host Providence.
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