(PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. JOHN’S RED STORM ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS)
Four seconds is all St. John’s needed to earn its second Big East victory and a crucial one in hopes of keeping its NCAA Tournament dreams alive.
But one tip of the ball in the last three seconds of regulation forced an Adama Sanogo pair of free throws and overtime. That is where things went south for the Red Storm.
The St. John’s Red Storm (9-5, 1-2 BIG EAST) couldn’t get it done against the University of Connecticut Huskies (11-4, 2-2 BIG EAST) in overtime as they fell by a score of 86-78 inside Gampel Pavilion in front of 6,671 roaring fans on Wednesday night.
A promising first half for the Johnnies, and most specifically junior forward Julian Champagnie, turned into a game of runs that featured the Huskies jumping in front by five in the first half. Posh Alexander and Dylan Addae-Wusu did not perform up to their standards in the first 20 minutes of action, as they combined for 2-of-14 from the floor and turned the ball over three times.
Tough finish for @JulianChampagn2 off the feed from @joelsoriano22 #SJUBB pic.twitter.com/DErcpKoz0e
— St. John's BBall (@StJohnsBBall) January 13, 2022
Champagne finished the first half with 12 points and five-of-nine shooting from the floor. This was a solid response following an 11 total point outcome following the Providence loss on Saturday inside the Dunkin Donuts Center.
For Joel Soriano, the Fordham transfer recorded six points in the first half, with two crucial rebounds and two buckets from inside the paint.
Rim: 0️⃣@joelsoriano22: 1️⃣
cc: @StJohnsBBall pic.twitter.com/0n7wHq9nSB
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 13, 2022
The Red Storm also ran into 6’9″ sophomore forward Adama Sanogo, who bullied his way to eight points, 11 rebounds, and two blocks in 15 minutes on the floor.
The second half didn’t feature some pleasantries from the Johnnies, as they didn’t answer the Sanogo as mentioned above. But, also didn’t have answers at the free-throw line either.
In the first few minutes, the Red Storm missed three free throws while trailing by as much as seven, just two minutes into the final stanza, from Montez Mathis, Joel Soriano, and Dylan Addae-Wusu.
They’d eventually make up for it, as Alexander tallied four straight points, two from the charity stripe, and a second-chance bucket down low to cut the lead to as little as seven. The Johnnies would eventually wake up, as Aaron Wheeler sends home a booming triple to narrow the Huskies lead to as little as four before the under eight media timeout.
Dan Hurley and UConn would respond with six straight points from Tyler Polley from the near corner from a distance and another Cole triple.
Mike Anderson and company never gave up for a second, as Alexander and Addae-Wusu were able to rattle off five straight points before Champagnie and Wheeler took over.
ONE POINT GAME pic.twitter.com/RpNMeysrTM
— BIG EAST MBB (@BIGEASTMBB) January 13, 2022
Following Wheelers fourth foul on Sanogo, Champagnie sent home a contested three from the right-wing to put the Johnnies ahead 71-70 with 4.4 seconds remaining in regulation.
𝙅𝙪𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙣. 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙚. pic.twitter.com/3Of8AIakOr
— BIG EAST MBB (@BIGEASTMBB) January 13, 2022
Following the Champagnie dagger to put the Johnnies ahead by one, RJ Cole sent a ball down the lane but was tipped out of bounds by Dylan Addae-Wusu. Eventually, the Johnnies would be called for a foul and subsequently fouled out its secondary marksman of the day in Wheeler. That would force Sanogo to the line, where he would convert one-of-two from the line and force overtime with the score tied at 71.
“We should’ve been in place.” commented Mike Anderson in the post-game press-conference.
The Johnnies would work without Joel Soriano following the Champagnie opening bucket of the extra period after he fouled out three minutes in.
UConn then woke up and put the final nail in the coffin to mount its comeback against the Red Storm.
ANDRE HAS GAMPEL ROCKIN 💪💪#ThisIsUConn | #BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/ri3g7hQu9p
— UConn Men's Basketball (@UConnMBB) January 13, 2022
Led by Cole, Jackson, and Sanogo, the Huskies went ahead by as much as nine and mounted a 10-0 run. The Johnnies were unable to stop UConn’s comeback in which Dan Hurley’s team fed off the crowd’s energy in the final few minutes.
Following the game, Mike Anderson was asked about the foul discrepancy in both the Providence contest, as well as tonight’s heavyweight, that featured 26 charged fouls for the Red Storm, and just 13 for Hurley’s program.
“No comment.”
Sanogo would finish the night with a whopping 26 points, 18 rebounds, and six blocks on the floor in more than 40 minutes. Champagne finished with 27 points, two steals, five rebounds, and 10-of-22 from the floor, including a crucial three-pointer in the latter part of regulation.
Posh Alexander woke up in the second half, as he was able to finish with 11 points and ten rebounds. This marks Alexander’s first double-double of his young career. For Alexander, it was nine points for the sophomore.
“It’s only three games in our conference”. Noted coach Mike Anderson after the game. “There is a lot of basketball left.”
A sign of improvement against a UConn team who had the advantage inside the paint. St. John’s led in the points-off-turnovers category 18-13 while grabbing those 18 points off 16 UConn turnovers. The Red Storm also obtained 20 second-chance buckets, as they showed with 21 offensive buckets. The Johnnie’s bench also came to play, thanks mainly to Wheeler, who finished the night with 13 points.
The road for the Johnnies heads to Madison Square Garden in its next tilt that comes against the Georgetown Hoyas on Sunday, January 16, for a 4:30 p.m. start time. The game will be nationally televised on FOX.
