(PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. JOHN’S RED STORM ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS, BRENDAN WILLISCH)
Too little, too late?
Some say this could be what the doctor ordered after taking Xavier on Wednesday night. But others are still not too optimistic on March chances.
The St. John’s Red Storm (15-11, 7-8 Big East) have muted those critics and negative chatter, as it routed the Butler Bulldogs (13-14, 6-10 Big East) by a score of 91-56 inside raucous Carnesecca Arena on a rescheduled Friday evening early start time.
Stringing off back-to-back victories later in the season, following a pair of potential death blows to its March Madness hopes, have the Johnnies in prime position to quietly move the needle in its journey towards playing basketball deep into March.
“It was a good win. We played well, we played together, we played the way the coach wanted us to play, and it boosted confidence that we could do it. It felt good, and it wasn’t forced. The win at Xavier gave us a little nudge and today [against Butler] was a good win. … Hopefully, it carries over into [Creighton].” said Julian Champagnie in the post-game press conference.
The Johnnies continued its fiery play from 48 hours ago in Cincinnati at Xavier, where they pulled off just its second quad one victory of the season. It was all Julian Champagnie, Posh Alexander, and Aaron Wheeler in this one.
According to a St. John’s spokesperson, this was the largest win in conference play since beating the Providence Friars by 34 points on February 15, 1999. Also, the pair of defeats against Butler during the 2021-22 campaign is the first sweep of the Bulldogs since 2013-14.
Largest #SJUBB margin of victory in a @BIGEASTMBB game since 1999! pic.twitter.com/lWSq3NeCqS
— St. John's Men’s Basketball (@StJohnsBBall) February 19, 2022
In the first 13 minutes of the game, the Johnnies turned the ball over seven times, while Butler had six turnovers. As head coach Mike Anderson would go nine players deep very early on, things were not looking promising. With some mixing and matching on the bench, Anderson put Posh Alexander and Joel Soriano back into the ball game, which seemed like those two were the missing pieces of a faulty vehicle for it to get cruising.
In the Johnnies’ case, that car we speak of was going faster than we could even know.
Led by Alexander, the Johnnies were on a 12-3 run, where the sophomore guard was sitting with five assists in the teams’ 10 field goals at the time. Then, Fordham transfer Joel Soriano was able to slam one home to put St. John’s ahead by as much as six, which was their largest lead of the game. Just a few moments before the first half concluded, a turnover by Butler gave Alexander the ability to shoot a triple straight away, which banked home as the buzzer sounded.
POSH ALEXANDER BUZZER BEATER 🔥 @StJohnsBBall pic.twitter.com/zZBU81b9kn
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) February 18, 2022
And subsequently, never looked back.
Numerous runs continued to push St. John’s further away from the lowly Butler team. Champagnie shot a whopping 11-for-22 from the floor, totaling 31 points, with 4-of-9 from distance and a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe in 34 minutes. The best part for Champagnie was that he performed so well in front of his twin brother, Justin, who decided to watch Julian. He wasn’t the only one watching. There were a few scouts credentialed from the Charlotte Hornets, New York Knicks, Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, and the Houston Rockets in attendance. We expect they were eyeing the 6-foot-8 Big East Player of the Year hopeful.
Not a stat line you see every night in college basketball pic.twitter.com/GIN46o1CoJ
— St. John's Men’s Basketball (@StJohnsBBall) February 19, 2022
Every player available and who entered the game for Anderson scored at least two points. The lone player in Esahia Nyiwe secured a pair from his solo trip to the free-throw line early in the first half. Even walk-on guard Artemios Gavalas notched a bucket, followed by a raucous ovation from the crowd inside Carnesecca Arena.
All in all, the Johnnies performed to par and continued its long journey through a dark tunnel in hopes of sniffing either an NIT, at-large, or automatic bid. They are hoping for the latter two.
Aaron Wheeler continued to show what he can with 16 points, in six-of-eight shooting from the floor and four-of-five from distance. Wheeler also grabbed a pair of rebounds one assist, and turned the ball over just twice in 29 minutes.
Joel Soriano continued his strong play on the defensive side of the ball with one block, six rebounds, and even one assist and eight points.
As a team, St. John’s blocked seven Butler shots, stole 12 from the Bulldogs, and assisted on 23 of the 35 total field goals recorded in the rout. The Red Storm continued to ball out with a whopping 61% from the field in the game by converting 35-of-57 in total. They even netted 11-of-22 from distance.
When the Red Storm turned the ball over seven times in the first 13 minutes, it would turn the ball over just eight more times in the final 27 minutes. A complete turnaround from the start of the contest.
Critics and statistics say how the Johnnies are one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the country. Well, it didn’t look like it tonight, as the Johnnies converted 10-of-11 from the line, with the lone miss coming from Stef Smith. St. John’s also had no issue on the glass, as they out-rebounded Butler 35-21 and grabbed 13 second-chance points.
“It was a good old-fashioned butt-kicking,” said Butler head coach LaVall Jordan following the game.
On a mini note, the Red Storm are 9-1 inside Carnesecca Arena during the 2021-22 season. It’s far from over, as they still will be hosting a pair on the university’s campus. St. John’s will be welcoming in the Creighton Blue Jays (17-8, 9-5 Big East) on Wednesday, February 23, for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off. During its first meeting between the Blue Jays, the Johnnies were walloped by double-digits in Omaha.
