Soriano guides St. John’s past Butler

Joel Soriano scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead St. John’s over Butler 76-63 on Wednesday in the first round of the Big East Conference Tournament at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Eight-seeded St. John’s takes on top-seeded Marquette in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

AJ Storr was 4 of 7 shooting and 6 of 8 from the free throw line to add 15 points for the Red Storm (18-14). Posh Alexander recorded 13 points and was 5-of10 shooting, 3 for 7 from distance.

The ninth-seeded Bulldogs (14-17) were led by Simas Lukosius, who had 23 points and three steals. Jalen Thomas added 20 points, six rebounds and two steals for Butler. Myles Tate had 10 points.

St. John’s led 44-29 at the break.

Boeheim out at Syracuse: Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim isretiringafter47yearsofleading the university’s basketball program,theteamannounced Wednesday after a loss knocked them out of the ACC Conference Tournament.

The Hall of Fame coach who transformed Syracuse into a basketball power, won a national title in 2003 and kept a pained, irascible visage from the bench during almost a half century as coach at his alma mater will be replaced by longtime assistant Adrian Autry, the school said in a statement.

“Nearly 60 years ago, Jim Boeheim ’66, first arrived on the Syracuse University campus as an undergraduate student and walk-on with the men’s basketball team,” the statement reads. “Little did he know that six decades later, he’d be one of college basketball’s winningest head coaches, a national champion, a Hall of Famer and one of the most prominent alumni in Syracuse University history.”