5 Takeaways: St. John’s hangs on late to beat Marquette

By Anthony E. Parelli (@reportedbytheAP)

In danger of facing potentially its worst loss of the season, St. John’s was saved by its freshmen.

 

After watching a 15-point halftime lead evaporate, the Red Storm once again found itself needing to execute in the final seconds against Marquette. This time around, it did, as Posh Alexander and Dylan Addae-Wusu – who were teammates at Our Saviour Lutheran High School a season ago – extended the St. John’s win streak to four, prevailing over the Golden Eagles, 75-73, on the road Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee.

 

St. John’s (11-7, 5-6 Big East) was originally scheduled to play UConn on Saturday, but a COVID pause in the Huskies’ program led to the quickly-scheduled tilt with Marquette. The win was the Johnnies’ fifth in their last six games, with the lone loss coming to the same Golden Eagles at Carnesseca Arena two weeks ago. It was the third straight road win for the Red Storm.

 

Sunday’s win looked like a runaway for St. John’s early, as an 11-0 run midway through the first half had the Red Storm up 28-13, prompting a timeout from Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski. Johnnies coach Mike Anderson responded with a timeout of his own after a 9-2 Golden Eagle run, but eventually Julian Champagnie and Alexander combined for six points in eight seconds to head to the half up 46-31.

 

Before you could blink, coming out of the break, Anderson was forced to call a timeout to slow a lightning quick 8-0 Marquette run. The Golden Eagles converted on nine consecutive possessions and tied the game at 51 just 5:30 into the second half. A Champagnie 3-pointer with 10:35 left put the Red Storm back up by eight, but once again, Marquette came back within one with under two minutes remaining.

 

That’s where Alexander, the Big East’s leader in steals, made his biggest play, stripping Marquette’s D.J. Carton at midcourt and hitting a contested layup to go up three. After two made free throws from the Eagles’ Koby McEwen, Addae-Wusu hit an acrobatic off-hand layup with 42 seconds left to once again extend the lead to three. 

 

Two free throws from Rasheem Dunn would eventually give the Red Storm a 75-71 lead, and up two, it was Dunn diving on the floor for a loose ball to give St. John’s possession with a two-point lead and 0.4 seconds left on the clock. Appropriately, Addae-Wusu hit a streaking Alexander to run out the clock for the Red Storm.

 

Here are my takeaways from the win:

 

Learning to win

It’s been just two weeks since St. John’s faltered in the final minute to this same Marquette team, making the Red Storm’s late-game execution that much more impressive. 

 

Dunn’s clutch free throws, Alexander’s defense and Addae-Wusu’s playmaking were the difference this time around, and the ability to finish one-possession games is crucial as the calendar flips to February.

 

Competing down low

St. John’s and Marquette play distinctly different styles, with the Red Storm 17th in the country in pace and Marquette 253rd. The Red Storm wants to turn you over and score in transition, while the Golden Eagles want to slow things down and use their dynamic frontcourt of Theo John and Dawson Garcia to beat teams into submission. 

 

John, a senior, is an absolute bulldozer under the rim, finishing Sunday’s contest with 16 points and eight rebounds while Garcia — a freshman, former McDonald’s All-American and a dynamic playmaker – finished with 20 and nine on the day.

 

St. John’s simply doesn’t have the big men to match up with that duo, but the combination of Josh Roberts, Isaih Moore and Champagnie gave a commendable effort. Champagnie was especially effective at beating Garcia on the offensive end, finishing with 22 points and seven boards.

 

Hit your shots

It seems like a simple concept for a Division I basketball team, but when St. John’s was struggling earlier in the season, it just couldn’t hit open looks, whether underneath the basket, at the free throw line or beyond the arc. Sunday, the Red Storm only shot 10 free throws, but made all of them, a huge difference in a two-point win. The Johnnies also shot 47.4 percent from 3-point range, with Vince Cole (2-for-3), Champagnie (4-for-7) and the suddenly-improved jump shooter Alexander (2-for-4) all taking advantage of clean looks.

 

Getting up off the mat

Building a 15-point lead at the half is nice, especially since the win moved the Red Storm to 9-0 on the season when leading at the break, but how the Johnnies responded to the second half offensive barrage by Marquette is more encouraging. Earlier in the season, that kind of run would have doomed St. John’s, but Anderson’s group kept its poise, never trailed in the second half and escaped with another resume-boosting win.

 

Greg getting closer

What St. John’s has accomplished throughout most of January is impressive in itself, but even more so considering it’s done so without its second-leading scorer in Greg Williams, Jr. The junior guard has been limited in practice recently and looks to be on the brink of returning from his back injury, an addition that can only help continue the Red Storm’s recent roll.

 

Next up

Whether this win streak is a mirage or not will be answered in a hurry, as St. John’s welcomes No. 3 Villanova to Carnesseca Arena Wednesday at 9 p.m. The Red Storm doesn’t have to beat the Wildcats – who are currently projected as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament – but must do enough to compete and show that it has closed the gap with the upper echelon teams of the Big East.