Butler basketball's season ends with loss to St. John's in Big East tournament first round

Butler's Big East tournament opening game against St. John's started with bad news off the court and the short-handed Dawgs could not keep up with the Red Storm once the contest tipped off.

Shortly before the game, grad transfers Manny Bates and Eric Hunter Jr. were ruled out for "failing to meet academic standards." Neither player made the trip with the team to New York.

Without the veteran players, Butler fell, 76-63, to St. John's.

Coach Thad Matta's first season back as Butler's head coach ends with a 14-18 record and the Dawgs ended on a three-game losing streak.

Simas Lukosius led Butler with 23 points. Jalen Thomas added a season-high 20 points and six rebounds.

Here's three reasons Butler fell to St. John's.

Butler backups show fight

Butler trailed by as much as 22 points in the second half, but a unit led by reserves Myles Tate, Myles Wilmoth and Pierce Thomas helped the Dawgs keep it close late in the game.

Thomas showed off his impressive vertical, leaping for a steal and dishing to Lukosius for 3 with 3:44 left in the game. Lukosius' triple cut Butler's deficit to nine, but St. John's responded with six straight points to seal the win.

Wilmoth, Tate and Thomas all ended with positive plus/minuses. Tate led the second unit with 10 points and three rebounds. Pierce Thomas had six rebounds and three assists.

St. John's dominates inside

St. John's center Joel Soriano combined for 31 points and 22 rebounds in his first two games against Butler. Bates started at center in both games. Without Bates down low, Soriano and the Red Storm continued their dominance in the paint.

Soriano led St. John's with 19 points and 15 rebounds. As a team, St. John's scored 40 of its 76 points in the paint. The Red Storm out rebounded Butler by a 53 to 28 margin. The hosts grabbed 20 offensive rebounds leading to 20 second-chance points.

Lack of confidence from outside

Before the second unit sparked the team in the second half, Butler's offense was lifeless and uninspired for large portions of the game. Butler's perimeter players lost all confidence from 3, passing up open looks for contested attempts closer to the basket.

Butler shot just 7-for-27 (25%) from 3. The inablity to connect from 3 prevented the Dawgs from ever really threatening St. John's lead.

Lukosius hit four of Butler's 3-pointers. The Dawgs other top shooters: Jayden Taylor, Chuck Harris and Ali Ali went a combined 2-of-8 (25%) from 3 and 3-of-18 (16.6%) from the field.

Incoming recruits Finley Bizjack and Boden Kapke are both talented shooters from the outside. The freshmen could provide a much-needed shooting boost to the team next season.

2023 recruit:Finley Bizjack has game to match the name, could be sharpshooter Butler needs

2023 recruitHow Boden Kapke is preparing to provide boost to Butler

St. John's 76, Butler 63

BUTLER (14-18): J.Thomas 10-16 0-0 20, Harris 0-4 2-2 2, Taylor 1-7 0-0 3, Ali 2-7 0-0 5, Lukosius 8-15 3-3 23, P.Thomas 0-2 0-0 0, Tate 4-11 1-2 10, Wilmoth 0-3 0-0 0, Hughes 0-0 0-0 0, Turnbull 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-65 6-7 63.

ST. JOHN'S (18-14): Stanley 2-9 0-0 4, Soriano 8-13 3-4 19, Addae-Wusu 4-13 0-0 10, Alexander 5-10 0-2 13, Storr 4-7 6-8 15, Jones 6-13 0-0 12, King 1-4 1-2 3, Nyiwe 0-0 0-0 0, Traore 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-69 10-16 76.

Halftime—St. John's 44-29. 3-Point Goals_Butler 7-27 (Lukosius 4-9, Ali 1-3, Taylor 1-3, Tate 1-5, J.Thomas 0-1, P.Thomas 0-1, Harris 0-2, Wilmoth 0-3), St. John's 6-20 (Alexander 3-7, Addae-Wusu 2-5, Storr 1-1, King 0-1, Stanley 0-2, Jones 0-4). Rebounds_Butler 26 (J.Thomas, P.Thomas 6), St. John's 49 (Soriano 15). Assists_Butler 14 (Lukosius, P.Thomas 3), St. John's 10 (Addae-Wusu 4). Total Fouls_Butler 15, St. John's 11.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Butler basketball vs. St. John's: Bulldogs 'season ends with a whimper