NEW YORK -- With No. 11 Butler trailing by one point in the final minute, Christian David positioned himself in the right corner, not sure the ball would come his way.
Kamar Baldwin passed it over, and David put up the most important shot of his career.
David hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 43 seconds remaining as Butler rallied after blowing a 23-point lead to beat St. John's 60-58 and former Arkansas coach Mike Anderson on Tuesday night in the Big East opener for both teams.
"Probably the biggest shot I've made so far," said David, who is a 24% three-point shooter during his career.
Those were his only points in the game. He came in averaging 3.4 points per contest.
David was open after Aaron Thompson got an offensive rebound behind the three-point line. Thompson quickly fed the ball to Baldwin, who faked a shot and dished to David. He released the shot before St. John's Greg Williams could come over to defend.
"He's prepared himself for a moment like that and worked like crazy this summer," Butler Coach Lavell Jordan said. "It was a huge moment for him and us."
David's dramatic shot occurred after St. John's (11-3, 0-1 Big East) staged a 29-4 run in the second half and took a 48-46 advantage on Marcellus Earlington's layup with 6:49 remaining.
Butler (13-1, 1-0) trailed 58-53 when Raheem Dunn hit an uncontested layup with 3:08 left, but then the Bulldogs clamped down defensively. Baldwin's jumper made it 58-57 with 2:01 remaining, and after a series of wild sequences at the rim, David delivered.
After David's clutch shot, Butler got two defensive stops to seal its fourth consecutive victory on a night when it committed 24 turnovers.
Dunn missed a layup with 19 seconds remaining, and LJ Figueroa missed a three-point try with one second left for the Red Storm.
"They made plays and we dug a hole," Anderson said after his team missed its final five shots "We got back in, and that's the most encouraging thing. We were right there against a very good basketball team."
Baldwin led Butler with 19 points and a career-high five three-pointers. Sean McDermott and Jordan Tucker added 12 points apiece as Butler shot 40%.
Nick Rutherford led St. John's with 15 points and Dunn added 12 as the Red Storm shot 34.5% and missed 18 of 22 three-point attempts, including their first 11 tries.
NO. 2 DUKE 88,
BOSTON COLLEGE 49
DURHAM, N.C. -- Freshman Matthew Hurt scored 20 of his season-high 25 points before halftime and Tre Jones returned from a foot injury to help second-ranked Duke beat Boston College.
Hurt made 10 of 16 shots and was 5 of 10 on three-pointers to lead the Blue Devils, which shot nearly 52% and hit their last five shots of the first half as they blew the game open shortly before the break. Duke (12-1, 2-0 ACC) also had little trouble clamping down with its defensive pressure on a Boston College offense that came in ranked among the least efficient attacks in the country.
Jones had missed the past two games for the Blue Devils with what was described as a mild sprain of his left foot, but he finished with a game-high 10 assists.
CJ Felder scored 13 points for the Eagles (8-6, 2-1), which had won four straight games coming in to Cameron Indoor Stadium.
NO. 18 FLORIDA ST. 70, GEORGIA TECH 58
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Devin Vassell scored 14 points and pulled down nine rebounds, leading No. 18 Florida State past Georgia Tech for its 15th consecutive home victory.
Patrick Williams scored 12 points while Trent Forrest had 8 points and 6 assists for Florida State (12-2, 2-1 ACC).
Michael Devoe scored 19 points, knocking down 6 of 8 three-point attempts. Moses Wright added 13 points and 10 rebounds, his fourth double-double of the season, for Georgia Tech (6-7, 1-2). But the Yellow Jackets were undone by 20 turnovers, one short of their season high.
Vassell had eight points and Dominik Olejniczak added seven points in the second half for Florida State, which shot 53% from the floor after halftime to pull away.
Sports on 01/01/2020