5 Takeaways: Johnnies bounce back with crucial win over Xavier

By Anthony E. Parelli (@reportedbytheAP)

 

The streak is over. The demons have been expelled. The monkey is off St. John’s proverbial back.

 

Pick your favorite euphemism, because for the first time since 2015, the Red Storm found a way to break the curse that is Xavier basketball, downing the Musketeers, 93-84, Tuesday night at Carnesecca Arena. The win was the 400th of the illustrious career of head coach Mike Anderson.

 

Shoddy defense led to an early 10-0 run for Xavier, but St. John’s (14-8, 8-7 Big East) seven made 3-pointers in the first half kept the Musketeers from pulling away. A deep Vince Cole three was followed by a Rasheem Dunn steal, leading to Posh Alexander finding Julian Champagnie for an easy alley-oop as part of an 8-0 run to lead, 46-38, at the break.

 

Unlike their last two contests, the Johnnies were able to keep Xavier at arm’s length for the entirety of the second half. Up six with 11 minutes to go, three straight St. John’s possessions ended with thunderous dunks from Isaih Moore. 

 

Apparently having learned from its late-game struggles against Butler last week, St. John’s made winning plays down the stretch. Greg Williams, Jr. hit an open three as the shot clock expired to go up 11 with five minutes left, Dunn drilled his own shot clock-beating jumper to go up nine with just over a minute left and Champagnie’s and-one on the ensuing possession wrapped things up for the Red Storm.

 

Here are my takeaways from the win:

 

Big three delivering

Champagnie and Alexander have established themselves as St. John’s two biggest offensive threats, with Dunn emerging as lead facilitator, and Tuesday all three were on full display.

 

Champagnie was his usual self, scoring 21 points and pulling down five rebounds, while Alexander may have had his best performance to date. The star freshman flirted with a triple-double in the contest, scoring 15 points, grabbing eight boards and tallying nine assists. Alexander also finished with three steals while committing zero turnovers. 

 

Dunn filled it up with 17 points and his mid-range jump shot has become his best weapon, as he can use his speed to routinely create separation off the dribble. 

 

Distinct advantage

It wasn’t so long ago that St. John’s struggled to dress enough scholarship players for a full starting five, but thanks to Anderson’s creative roster composition, the Johnnies now routinely go at least nine-deep. 

 

The Red Storm bench outscored Xavier’s, 37-26, led by Moore’s 11 points and five rebounds and Marcellus Earlington’s best game of the season. The junior forward went 4-of-5 from deep and finished with 16 points and nine boards.

 

Flipping the script

When St. John’s fell to Xavier back on January 6, the Musketeers outrebounded the Johnnies by 17. This time around, the Red Storm picked up contributions up and down the roster, finishing with a 42-37 edge on the glass.

 

Learning from a loss

Good teams learn from a loss like the one St. John’s suffered at the hands of Butler last Tuesday, while bad teams let things spiral. The Red Storm once again showed its moxie by rebounding to decisively overtake Xavier for sole possession of fifth place in the Big East. 

 

Accolades on the way

There’s plenty of work left to do in 2021, starting with qualifying for the NCAA Tournament, but postseason conference awards are starting to take shape and the Red Storm is firmly in the mix for several.

 

At this juncture, Freshman of the Year is Alexander’s to lose, while Champagnie – the conference’s leading scorer – is all but guaranteed a spot on the first team All-Big East list and firmly in the running for Player of the Year. Anderson, meanwhile, deserves as much credit as anyone for the Red Storm turnaround, and if St. John’s finishes strong and makes a little noise in the Big East tournament, it’s tough to find a coach that’s done a better job than he has this season, as the Red Storm were projected to finish third-to-last in the preseason coaches’ poll.

 

Next up

St. John’s hosts DePaul on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., needing to take care of business against a clearly inferior opponent. Last week’s rude awakening against Butler should have the Red Storm hungry to make a statement against the Blue Demons, who they beat by 13 in Chicago on January 27.