Butler vs. St. John's game recap: Dunham carries Bulldogs to first Big East win

With both teams going into tonight's game looking for their first Big East win of the year, the Butler Bulldogs came out victorious with a 73-69 win over the St. John's Red Storm on the road.

We'll look at this game more in-depth in the coming days, but for now, here's three quick takeaways from today's game:

1. Kellen Dunham goes the distance

After struggling to free himself up for good looks against Villanova, Butler's Kellen Dunham exploded for 28 points and four rebounds against the Red Storm. I wrote before the game about how Dunham sometimes has a tendency to try to create for himself and settle for off-balance looks, but that was not the case today. His shot selection was terrific, and with Roosevelt Jones and Alex Barlow creating space for him on the perimeter with their efficiency in the lane, Dunham had time to square up from deep, hitting six of his seven three-point attempts on the night. He came up just four points short of his career high of 32, but this was an all-time performance from the junior guard.

2. D'Angelo Harrison puts the team on his back, but falls short

While Dunham was lighting it up for the Bulldogs, he didn't even post the highest scoring stat line of the night. That went to Harrison, who finished with 31 points, five rebounds and three steals before fouling out in the game's final minute. Harrison was brilliant, scoring nearly half of St. John's' points by taking the Butler defenders to task near the rim. He was a bit quieter in the second half when Butler head coach Chris Holtmann switched Kameron Woods on to Harrison, and the senior guard struggled to compete with Woods' length on the perimeter. He was a hellhound defensively, poking balls loose and giving Barlow and Jones fits just trying to get the ball over half-court. His ultimately came up short, but Harrison clearly gave it everything he had today.

3. A big 'ole goose egg

Here's an interesting stat for you: Butler and St. John's had a total zero points off the bench COMBINED. For the Red Storm, you can probably chalk this up to Rysheed Jordan's leave of absence, but it's a bit more interesting for the Bulldogs, who do boast some nice bench depth. Coming into today's game, guard Kelan Martin was fourth amongst all Big East freshman in scoring, but went 0-for-2 from the field in the first half and never saw the court in the second. It's a testament to how much talent both teams have in their starting lineups, and each squad had three players score in double digits.