Julian Champagnie scored 31 points as St. John's took control late in the first half and cruised to a 91-57 victory over visiting Butler on Friday in Queens, N.Y.

With twin brother Justin in attendance, Champagnie shot 11 of 22 from the field and helped St. John's (15-11, 7-8 Big East) produce a strong follow-up showing to Wednesday's 13-point Quadrant 1 win at Xavier.

Champagnie produced his fourth career 30-point game and third this season. He finished three points shy of his career high and also collected seven rebounds to go along with a career-high seven steals.

Aaron Wheeler added 16 points to reach double figures for the seventh straight game. Wheeler shot 6 of 8 and he and Champagnie combined to hit eight of St. John's 11 3-pointers.

The Red Storm won a Big East game by at least 30 points for the first time since beating Providence Feb. 15, 1999.

Posh Alexander contributed 13 points and 10 assists as St John's shot 61.4 percent and made 16 of 18 layups and dunks. Alexander highlighted his return to the starting lineup by banking in a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give St. John's a 16-point lead.

Butler (13-14, 6-10) was unable to win its third straight game after eking out wins over then-No. 18 Marquette and DePaul.

Freshman Jayden Taylor paced Butler with 19 points, but leading scorer Chuck Harris shot 3 of 13 and was held to eight points.

Butler held a 20-19 lead on a 3-pointer by Myles Tate with 7:17 left before St. John's dominated the Bulldogs by outscoring them 27-10 the rest of the half.

Champagnie's jumper made it 40-26 with 1:46 left and, following a layup by Butler's Aaron Thompson, Wheeler and Alexander hit 3-pointers in the final 31 seconds for a 46-30 lead.

After Taylor's layup made it 54-39 with 14:35 remaining, the Red Storm used a 14-1 run to open a 68-40 lead on a basket by O'Mar Stanley with 10:06 left. Less than two minutes later, Champagnie's four-point play extended the lead to 72-43 to essentially clinch it.

--Field Level Media