NEW YORK – JaKarr Sampson scored a career-high 23 points and St. John's pulled away from Butler in the second half for its sixth consecutive victory, 77-52, on Tuesday night.
Sampson surpassed his previous career-best of 22 points with a short jumper with 4:40 remaining and then had the rest of the night off. Sampson also grabbed eight rebounds.
Jamal Branch added 10 points for St. John's (18-9, 8-6) which shot 48 percent while Orlando Sanchez pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds helping the Red Storm to a 55-29 margin on the glass.
Khyle Marshall led Butler (12-14, 2-12) with 16 points but was a non-factor in the second half. Marshall made 6 of 9 shots in the first half on a combined five layups and dunks but missed all four of his attempts after halftime as the Bulldogs made just 31.7 percent, including 2 of 15 on 3-pointers.