3 reasons Butler basketball lost at St. John's: Offense goes cold, Thad Matta gets ejected

INDIANAPOLIS -- Butler emerged from its extended holiday break with a clunker against St. John's. The Bulldogs trailed throughout, and the Red Storm pulled away in the second half handing the Dawgs an 86-70 defeat.

St. John's put six players in double figures. Daniss Jenkins led the Red Storm with 17 points.

D.J. Davis led Butler with 26 points. Posh Alexander and Pierre Brooks had 11 points each.

'I'm going to fight for my players.'Thad Matta ejection can't spark Butler vs. St. John's

Butler falls to 10-4 and 1-2 in the Big East. St. John's improves to 10-4 and 2-1 in the Big East.

Late in the second half, Butler coach Thad Matta exchanged words with a referee and was ejected. Here's what Matta said on the ejection.

"I don't condone the behavior I had, but I will fight for them," Matta said. "Felt like we were at a disadvantage, and it hurt our game prep. I apologize for my behavior, but I'm going to fight for my players. There's no question about that."

Here are three takeaways from the loss.

Offense goes cold in second half

Butler trailed by seven at halftime, and its ice-cold offense prevented it from closing the gap.

The Dawgs went 0-for-8 from the field during a six-minute field goal drought in the second half. Davis ended the slump with a 3, but the Red Storm's lead stretched to 14 by then.

Butler shot 32% from the field in the second half and 33% for the game. After a strong first half in his return to Queens, Alexander went scoreless after halftime. Jahmyl Telfort struggled to find his offense, scoring nine points on 2-for-9 shooting.

Soriano dominates down low, Dunlap on fire from deep

St. John's big man Joel Soriano continues to thrive against Butler. He recorded two double-doubles in two games against Butler last season. Back for his senior year, Soriano kept the double-double train going with a 14-point, 12-rebound performance Tuesday night. It's Soriano's 48th career double-double.

Soriano did his work on the inside and Brady Dunlap did his work from the outside. Heading into Tuesday's game Dunlap had only appeared in eight of St. John's 13 games. He never played more than 15 minutes, and never scored more than five points. Against the Dawgs, the 6-7 freshman from California set new career highs with 13 points in 28 minutes off the bench. Dunlap was an efficient 5-for-7 from the field, including 3-for-5 from 3. The sharpshooter scored 10 of his 13 in the first half.

Trouble with the press and on the glass

Butler's struggles from the field were exasperated by its inability to hold onto the ball.

Butler struggled to inbound the ball against St. John's pressure defense, leading to easy points for the Red Storm. St. John's turned 13 Butler turnovers into 15 points.

Butler lost the turnover battle and the battle on the boards. St. John's out-rebounded Butler 43-32. The Red Storm pulled down 17 offensive rebounds and scored 23 second-chance points to Butler's seven.