Julian Champagnie completed with a game-high 31 factors.
Robert Sabo
St. John’s win at Xavier on Wednesday may not have been an anomaly, particularly after what the Pink Storm did Friday night time.
Enjoying with the identical goal, focus and depth as within the upset of Xavier, St. John’s dominated Butler over the ultimate half-hour Friday and cruised to a 91-57 decimation at Carnesecca Enviornment to maneuver inside one sport of .500 in Huge East play. It was the Pink Storm’s largest win within the convention since they beat Windfall, additionally by 34 factors, on Feb. 15, 1999.
The one-sided win accomplished the Pink Storm’s first season sweep of Butler since 2013-14, the primary yr the Bulldogs had been within the Huge East. St. John’s has now received 4 of six video games, with the lone losses coming in opposition to No. 10 Villanova and No. 24 Connecticut in video games level guard Posh Alexander missed attributable to a sprained proper ankle.
“It builds momentum,” junior ahead Julian Champagnie mentioned. “That’s the largest factor we take from it. … Simply preserve pushing, that’s the motto we've got proper now.”
Alexander, the Pink Storm’s coronary heart and soul, was an element in opposition to Xavier coming off the bench. He began Friday, and was at his finest, controlling the sport at each ends of the ground and ending with 13 factors, 10 assists, two blocks and two steals. Alexander checked again into the sport midway by the primary half, with St. John’s trailing by three. He instantly scored inside, jump-starting a 12-3 run that gave the Pink Storm the lead for good. His 3-pointer on the first-half buzzer prolonged the result in 16, St. John’s largest halftime benefit in league play this season.
“He’s the top of this prepare,” Champagnie mentioned. “To have him again has been fantastic, to say the least.”
Alexander wasn’t the one St. John’s star who was on his sport. Champagnie had his second straight sturdy outing, pouring in 31 factors, together with seven rebounds and 7 steals with no turnover, whereas his twin brother, Justin, a rookie with the Raptors, watched courtside. The brothers, who performed collectively at Bishop Loughlin Excessive College in Brooklyn, hadn’t seen one another in months. Justin, at residence in the course of the All-Star break, was motivating Julian all sport, celebrating each made basket after asking his brother for a 30-point efficiency.
“It was feeling,” Champagnie mentioned. “To see him on the sideline, he gave me a little bit further kick.”
All 10 regulars scored in an absolute beatdown. The Pink Storm (15-11, 7-8 Huge East) outrebounded the Bulldogs, 35-21, outscored them within the paint by 12 and shot 50 p.c from 3-point vary. The sport was so lopsided that coach Mike Anderson put in his walk-ons within the ultimate minute. One in every of them, Artemios Gavalas, scored, to the delight of the exuberant St. John’s bench.
“It was only a good old school butt-kicking,” Butler coach LaVall Jordan mentioned after Jayden Taylor had 19 factors and 6 rebounds to guide the Bulldogs (13-14, 6-10).
The win was a major step for St. John’s coming off the victory over Xavier, however the Pink Storm have loads of work left even to get into the NCAA Match combine. Blowout wins like it will assist the metrics. Extra importantly, it may give them the assumption an enormous run is feasible to shut the common season, particularly with a manageable schedule that continues with Creighton on Wednesday in Queens.
“It’s coming collectively,” Anderson mentioned, “on the proper time.”
Freshman guard Rafael Pinzon didn’t play, however he was obtainable after being cleared medically, in line with St. John’s. Pinzon had been sidelined since testing constructive for COVID-19 in December. He has but to return to apply.
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