COVID-19 gifted St. John’s a win, and it contributed to a costly loss on Saturday. Julian Champagnie’s absence due to testing positive for the virus, combined with a poor offensive showing, was too much to overcome. 

So after flirting with disaster in a series of underwhelming efforts during the non-conference season, St. John’s finally was burned in a 59-57 loss to under-.500 Pittsburgh at the Garden in the Gotham Classic. Jamarius Burton’s baby jumper with 0.4 seconds left was the game-winner, after Dylan Addae-Wusu had just pulled St. John’s even with two free throws on the previous possession. 

“When Julian is here, he’s a great scorer for us,” said point guard Posh Alexander — who had 11 points on 5-of-14 shooting, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals. “But it’s not just about him. It’s about the whole team. Without having him, we tried to bring it home for him. We came up short.” 

St. John’s badly missed Champagnie, its leading scorer, rebounder and top 3-point shooter. He tested positive on Friday and is now in isolation for 10 days. He may be able to return for the Dec. 29 game against Marquette, but he will miss Thursday’s Big East opener against Butler at Carnesecca Arena. St. John’s is 1-0 in league play, after Seton Hall forfeited Monday’s scheduled game because it doesn’t have seven healthy scholarship players following a COVID-19 outbreak. 

“That’s part of the adjustment,” coach Mike Anderson said of being without his top player. “That’s one of your leading scorers, but as I told our guys, somebody else has to step up.” 

Champagnie’s absence, though, was only part of this ugly defeat. This was an offensively challenged effort in which St. John’s (8-3) couldn’t convert on numerous transition opportunities — it turned 18 Pittsburgh turnovers into just nine points — shot a dreadful 35 percent from the field and sent the Panthers (4-7) to the free-throw line 28 times. The Red Storm was just 7-for-14 from the free throw line, contributing to the Quad 4 loss that will be a major hindrance if they are on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Pittsburgh, with losses to The Citadel, Monmouth and UMBC, entered with a NET ranking of 257. 

Want more news and exclusive insights from Zach? Become a member of Post Sports+ and join his Inside St. John’s text-message conversation.

There was hope the transfers, inconsistent so far, would emerge with Champagnie out. But Aaron Wheeler, Stef Smith and Montez Mathis shot a combined 4-for-22. Joel Soriano was the best of them on Saturday — notching 10 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. On a switch, he was defending Burton on the final play in a mismatch and couldn’t stop the Pittsburgh guard. 

“I put one word on the board just now: [toughness]. This is where we have to get to. We got to get the toughness factor. And it can’t come from just one or two guys,” Anderson said, referring to Alexander and Addae-Wusu. “Obviously these guys here, they bring it. We got to get other guys to bring it.” 

This loss followed what has been an uneven start to the year for St. John’s. There was a strong stretch in the first half — the Johnnies did lead by 10 at one point — but so much inconsistency at both ends of the floor. There were several chances to put Pittsburgh away — 10 turnovers in the second half didn’t help — so many missed opportunities that will stick with this team until it gets back on the court again on Thursday. 

“It’s like anything else, when you let a team hang around, hang around, it comes back to bite you, and it did,” Anderson said.