St. John’s big man lineup pays dividends in win over Butler

INDIANAPOLIS — Due to foul trouble, Rick Pitino played his two centers, Zuby Ejiofor and Ruben Prey, together Tuesday night. 

It may become a lineup that St. John’s goes to more often.

Ejiofor and Prey performed well in tandem, helping the Johnnies respond to Saturday’s ugly home loss to Providence with an encouraging 84-70 victory at Butler. 

“I think they can play together. Now, is he as good as Bryce [Hopkins] or Dillon [Mitchell]? Maybe not quite, but I have no trepidation at all playing them together,” Pitino said. “I think [Ruben] gives us the knowledge of being here, and giving us every little thing from a continuity standpoint.” 

Said Prey: “Last year I already had a couple of minutes at the 4 playing with Zuby, so it definitely was not something new. We had some foul problems at the beginning of the game, so I knew I had to help my teammates and it worked well.” 

Prey and Ejiofor were on the floor during a key 10-3 run in the first half, and they also played some in the same lineup in the second half.

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Prey enjoyed his best game of the season, scoring 10 points along with two steals and a block, and helped limit Butler star Michael Ajayi to 14 points. 

“Ruben is the consummate team player. He doesn’t complain about his minutes, but he could play for just about any team in the country,” Pitino said. “Next year he’ll get his starting role for the first time and play a lot. He stepped in today and gave us a lift.” 

Dylan Darling didn’t play because Pitino wanted to have more shooters on the floor. … St. John’s has now won at Butler in four of the past five seasons and three in a row. … The Red Storm committed only five turnovers, a season low.