(PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. JOHN’S ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS – VINCENT DUSOVIC)
This afternoon, a potential must-win for the St. John’s Red Storm inside Madison Square Garden turned into an ugly shooting performance for both the visiting Seton Hall Pirates and the Johnnies.
Ultimately, Seton Hall (12-5, 3-4 BIG EAST) took down St. John’s (10-7, 2-4 BIG EAST) by a score of 66-60 inside the World’s Most Famous Arena.
The Johnnies have lost three of their last four games dating back to January 8 against the Providence Friars, with their lone victory coming against the lowly Georgetown Hoyas.
Keep in mind that this program was selected to finish fourth in the Big East Preseason Coaches Poll nearly three and a half months ago.
Now, the future of the once-promising season looks very gloomy, heading into the final seven weeks of the season.
Seton Hall had a tough time defending St. John’s early in the contest, who stormed out to an 8-0 run led by Montez Mathis, who tallied the first four points off a foul and bucket just 45 seconds in.
8-0 start for #SJUBB.
Four points for Montez Mathis, five boards from Joel Soriano. pic.twitter.com/CK2tzQ9p7y
— St. John's Men’s Basketball (@StJohnsBBall) January 22, 2022
After the opening run by the Johnnies, the Pirates would answer back with a 10-0 run of its own before Esahia Nyiwe tied the game up at 10.
Down the stretch and throughout the ball game, the Pirates, who were without graduate guard Bryce Aiken due to a concussion, didn’t play up to par, as they knocked home 23-of-68 from the floor and just four triples in 13 total attempts.
The first half did end with a Seton Hall deficit 28-25 until Tray Jackson sent home a buzzer-beating triple from straight away to tie the game at 28.
🎯 @_Trayjacks understood the assignment 💪@SetonHallMBB used the clock PERFECTLY to tie it up at the half pic.twitter.com/k5ZuWgHtiM
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 22, 2022
Out of the locker room at the half, the Pirates knocked home a pair of buckets from Kadary Richmond and Myles Cale out of the locker room at halftime. The latter, off a steal on a Soriano turnover. But we’re never able to find the offensive rhythm they needed.
Miss after a miss from both programs had St. John’s at one point, within striking distance. Every bucket the Johnnies would tally, the Pirates would find a way to creep back into either the deficit or the lead.
4 points in 4 seconds ⏳@SetonHallMBB came out the half on a mission! pic.twitter.com/wSrSreIe1l
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 22, 2022
The Pirates also committed 17 turnovers in the contest, while the Johnnies turned the ball over just nine times. Seton Hall was on its way to an upset, but St. John’s couldn’t get out of their way. They could not rebound the ball as they were out-rebounded 60-43.
Mercy#HALLin 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/MiZbkTI8aR
— Seton Hall Men's Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) January 22, 2022
One bright spot for the Johnnies was Aaron Wheeler grabbing 13 points in 6-of-13 shooting. In addition, center Joel Soriano grabbed 14 rebounds and notched seven points in 26 minutes on the floor.
In the final five and a half minutes of the contest, Seton Hall could not make any shots from the floor down the stretch, but neither could St. John’s.
Late in the game, the Red Storm could not get any rhythm from the charity stripe, as they went 9-for-15 in the second half. Multiple misses from Soriano, from Addae-Wusu, but redemption seemed far too late in the final couple of minutes.
For the Red Storm, it couldn’t establish an offensive presence in the half-court for much of the game. Star forward Julian Champagnie was held to three-of-14 from the floor, grabbing three rebounds and obtaining just nine points in 38 minutes. Sophomore guard Posh Alexander shot just three-of-11 from the field, securing 10 points and five assists in the game. Head Coach Mike Anderson didn’t press the Pirates hard until the final three-four minutes of the game.
Head Coach Kevin Willard did defend Anderson’s lack of pressing by mentioning the core trio in Champagnie, Addae-Wusu, and Alexander, having difficulty on the offensive side of the ball when you press for much of the contest.
Spoiler alert, it didn’t matter since Champagnie and Alexander combined for 6-of-25 in the game.
Kevin Willard defending Mike Anderson a bit after being asked if he expected more presses from #sjubb
“When you have Champagnie playing 38, Posh playing 32, and Wusu playing 30, it’s hard to press that much and be able to play on the offensive side of the ball.”#HALLin
— Joey Jarzynka (@realJoeyJazz) January 22, 2022
For the Pirates, graduate forward Alexis Yetna notched his sixth double-double of the year with 16 points, 15 rebounds in 30 minutes, and a 6-of-12 shooting day.
Seton Hall’s leading scorer in senior Jared Rhoden fouled out while notching just six points in two-of-11 from the floor and four rebounds on the afternoon.
Graduate guard Myles Cale, was one rebound shy of his first career double-double by grabbing nine rebounds and sending home 21 points, who was given the assignment today by defending Champagnie all afternoon.
St. John’s led the battle in points off turnovers, as they tallied home 19, compared to Seton Hall’s 11, while the Pirates grabbed 38 points in the paint compared to St. Johns’ 30. The Red Storm were also able to contribute off the bench on the scoreboard, as Tariq Coburn, Stef Smith, Nyiwe, and Wheeler all combined for 21.
St. John’s fell to 0-6 in quadrant one opportunities. The chance for a March Madness appearance seems bleak unless the Red Storm can come away with an improbable run in the Big East Tournament.
The Pirates and Johnnies are back in action on Monday night, January 24, in a rare home-and-home as Seton Hall welcomes St. John’s to Walsh Gymnasium on the university’s campus. The contest will tip-off at 9 p.m. on FS1.
Anderson was asked if any adjustments would be made heading into the rematch at the Pirates’ home on Monday night. His answer. “We’ll be ready.”
