Julian Champagnie came around a screen at the top of the key, took a step to his left and sank the 3-pointer.
Finally.
Finally, the star forward had found the touch from the perimeter. Finally, he could put his deep shooting slump in the rearview mirror.
“It’s a confidence-builder,” the Brooklyn native said over Zoom, thinking back to that first 3-pointer to fall. “When you’re a shooter, you have to see one go in early in the game. … After that, I felt like, ‘All right. It’s time to play.’”
His bust-out performance keyed a much-needed laugher for St. John’s, a 90-77 victory over skidding Georgetown at tiny McDonough Gymnasium on Thursday in Washington.
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After averaging 7.7 points in his past four games and hitting just four of his previous 27 3-point attempts — a stretch Champagnie described as frustrating because “I felt like I let my team down a bunch of times” — he scored a game-high 27 points. He sank six 3-pointers and hit 9 of 20 shots from the field to key the one-sided win.
“That makes us a different team,” coach Mike Anderson said of Champagnie. “It permeates through our whole basketball team.”
Before the game, Champagnie had a sit-down with Anderson in which the coach reminded his star of how much he had already accomplished in college. He played his way from an overlooked recruit into an NBA prospect. Ignore the recent struggles, Anderson told him.
“Just be the player you are since you got here,” was the message. “Be that guy.”
Champagnie led the way, but this was a complete team effort. Center Joel Soriano overwhelmed highly rated Georgetown freshman Ryan Mutombo — the son of Dikembe Mutombo — and produced 14 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Aaron Wheeler had 13 points and four rebounds to continue his strong play. Posh Alexander controlled the game’s pace, producing 10 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals as St. John’s (12-9, 4-6 Big East) shot 51 percent from the field and won for just the second time on the road this year.
While the NCAA Tournament remains a long shot, St. John’s couldn’t afford a loss against the worst team in the Big East if it wants to salvage this season. Georgetown (6-14, 0-9) has now dropped 10 straight, although it has played several close games. Less than 48 hours after a heartbreaking loss at home to No. 15 Providence, St. John’s was in control the entire way.
Champagnie got off the 3-point schneid with a left-wing 3-pointer around a screen with 8:49 left in the first half. The shot gave St. John’s a seven-point lead, but really did so much more. It was the start of its star finding his shot. On the ensuing possession, Champagnie sank a jumper, and when he hit another triple later in the half, the junior had reached double figures for the first time in five games.
St. John’s quickly put the game away after the break, scoring the first 10 points of the second half after consecutive baskets from Soriano and back-to-back 3-pointers from Champagnie to build a 17-point edge. The lead ballooned to 26 when Champagnie hit his sixth 3-pointer with 7:52 left.
It was a year ago to the day that St. John’s stunned Villanova and announced itself as a legitimate factor in the Big East. Beating Georgetown obviously doesn’t have nearly the same impact. But maybe it can get this team headed in the right direction.
“Hopefully,” Champagnie said, “there is a carryover to the next game.”
