INDIANAPOLIS — Burn those obituaries.
St. John’s, left for dead just 10 days ago, is very much alive.
That’s what two consecutive Quad 1 victories, both by double digits, can do for a team.
Three days after stunning No. 13 Creighton at the Garden, Rick Piitno’s Johnnies obliterated Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse, 82-59, winning in the historic building for just the third time in 11 tries.
After losing eight of 10 games, St. John’s has now won three straight, and is playing its way back into the NCAA Tournament picture.
Pitino’s team seems to have solved its second-half issues.
It was dominant on Wednesday, turning a close game into a rout.
Perhaps most impressively, star point guard Daniss Jenkins had an off night shooting and it didn’t matter. St. John’s was balanced and efficient.
Seven different players scored at least seven points led by Glenn Taylor’s 17 and RJ Luis’ 15.
Jenkins added eight points and nine assists and Joel Soriano tallied seven points and 13 rebounds.
The other end of the floor, however, is where St. John’s (17-12, 9-9) has seen the biggest turnaround of late.
It shut down Creighton’s explosive offense and held Butler to 26 second-half points while forcing 15 turnovers.
St. John’s was dominant in second-chance points (17-4) and bench scoring (31-12), and cruised much of the second half.
The building began emptying with six minutes left and lead up to 22.
As the final seconds ticked away, coach Rick Pitino acknowledged the St. John’s fans section behind the bench, clapping his hands.
Dingle was only on the floor for three minutes due to foul trouble and Jenkins missed six of seven shots, but St. John’s still controlled the first 20 minutes.
There were surprising offensive contributions from Taylor (eight points) and Zuby Ejiofor (seven).
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