Field Level Media
Feb 9, 2021
Bryce Nze scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Aaron Thompson added 17 points and 10 assists as Butler beat St. John's 76-73 in overtime Tuesday night in Indianapolis.
The Bulldogs (7-10, 6-8 Big East) won their second in a row while Red Storm (13-8, 7-7) saw their six-game winning streak end.
Bo Hodges added 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists for Butler, and Bryce Gordon scored 11 points.
Julian Champagnie, the conference's leading scorer, had 19 points and eight rebounds for the Red Storm. Isaih Moore scored 13 points, and Rasheem Dunn had 12.
Thompson gave the Bulldogs a 74-73 lead on a layup with 2:04 remaining in overtime.
Teammate Myles Tate stole the ball from a driving Champagnie and made two free throws with 30 seconds left to cap the scoring.
The Red Storm's Posh Alexander was unsuccessful on 3-point attempt from the top of the key with one second left.
Butler whittled down an eight-point halftime deficit, tying the score at 54-all on Hodges' thunderous dunk with 9:27 remaining.
Thompson's driving layup with 7:56 left gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game at 56-54.
Thompson made two free throws and another driving layup, sandwiched around a layup by Alexander, as the Bulldogs moved out to a 60-56 lead.
Champagnie's step-back 3-pointer made it a one-point game, and the lead went back and forth until the Red Storm's Dylan Addae-Wusu made a driving layup with 28 seconds left to break a 66-all tie.
Hodges missed a layup on the Bulldogs' next possession, and Marcellus Earlington grabbed the rebound.
A bad pass by Champagnie gave the Bulldogs the ball with 12 seconds left. Following a timeout, Thompson drove to the basket and made a reverse layup with 2.3 seconds to go, setting up overtime.
The Red Storm led 40-32 at halftime as Moore came off the bench to score 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
St. John's was on top 30-14 before the Bulldogs put together an 11-0 run to get back in the game.
--Field Level Media