St. John’s hasn’t packed it in just yet.
After disappointing home losses to ranked league foes Villanova and Connecticut last week, the Red Storm showed some life Wednesday night with an 86-73 victory over likely NCAA Tournament participant Xavier in one of their best all-around performances of the season.
Coach Mike Anderson’s team owned the final 10 minutes, closing out a rare Quad 1 win in impressive fashion. Over the final 9:31, St. John’s outscored Xavier, 30-16, in the return from injury of star point guard Posh Alexander to win at Cintas Center in Cincinnati for the first time since 2015.
With a manageable schedule the rest of the way, including three of its five remaining games at home, St. John’s is in position to finish strong, although reaching the tournament will be a major long shot.
Junior Julian Champagnie enjoyed one of his best games of the year, notching 27 points and five assists, and Tareq Coburn keyed a strong outing from the bench with 13 points. Alexander, sidelined for the past two games with a right ankle injury, had eight points, four assists and four steals. Joel Soriano compiled a plus-25 rating in 27 strong minutes.
Montez Mathis slams one home during St. John’s win. USA TODAY Sports“He played a really complete game for us tonight,” Anderson said of Soriano, who had eight points, seven rebounds, four assists and four blocks. “He’s a great passer. I think the more we give it to him, it allows him to do some of the things he can do. To add on that, I thought he had a tremendous influence on the defensive side.”
The Red Storm (14-11, 6-8 Big East) were effective in transition, scoring 27 fastbreak points and turning 14 turnovers into 21 points. Their strong defense shut down the Musketeers (17-8, 7-7) and led a team in need of a spark to easy opportunities on offense.
“We got out and ran,” Champagnie said. “That was the biggest thing.”
Jack Nunge led Xavier with 22 points.
— with Post wires
