Players Era Championship: St. John's Bounces Back, Rolls By Butler

 

Oziyah Sellers returns to the St. John's bench. @StJohnsBBall.

The St. John's Red Storm took the second game of the Players Era Championship on Tuesday afternoon, as they bopped Butler, 96-81, at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.

The third and final game of the tournament for No. 14 St. John's, now 4-2 on the season, will be on Wednesday, with the opponent, tip-off, and location to be determined.

St. John's received a combined 80 points from four players, starting with Bryce Hopkins, who had 26 points on 9-12 shooting, including a perfect 3-3 from behind the arc, with five rebounds, five assists, and a steal.

Oziyah Sellers had 22 points (6-11 FG, 5-7 threes) and two rebounds. Off the bench, Dillon Mitchell had 18 points (8-10 FG), six rebounds, six assists, and a steal, and Ian Jackson had 14 points (5-7 FG, 3-4 threes), three rebounds, and an assist.

St. John's shot 57.4 percent overall, or 35-61, and had their best day on three-pointers, hitting 50 percent, or 11-22.

Baylor guard Cameron Carr, who was highlighted by St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino in his postgame press conference on Monday, led the Bears with 27 points on 8-15 from the field, including 5-8 on threes, with three rebounds.

PITINO POSTGAME: St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino opened with this statement on how they bounced back and responded with maturity: "A classy team really focuses in, doesn't hang their heads and brings it, and these guys did. For the first seven or eight minutes, we could have given the Knicks a game before losing by 40, so it was a brilliant first eight minutes of the game. And (Hopkins and Sellers) were both great. I haven't begged very often for players to shoot the ball, but I've begged these two guys to take shots, and they did tonight."

On offensive progression: "We have two point-forwards. Bryce and Dillon can play like gods in terms of handling the basketball and passing. That does wonders for you. I thought tonight they did a lot of great things offensively. It was a good bounce-back game, and as this team grows together, we have the potential to be very good."