St. John’s Wins MSG Thriller over Marquette, 88-86

Saturday, March 7

New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)

12 p.m.

St. John's University

16-15,5-13BE

Marquette

18-12,8-10BE

Marquette

St. John's

St. John’s Wins MSG Thriller over Marquette, 88-86

3/7/2020 4:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Red Storm Freshman Julian Champagnie finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds in the victory in Midtown

NEW YORK (March 7, 2020) – After watching his team's 21-point lead dwindle down to two in the final minute, Julian Champagnie came up with some late-game heroics for the Red Storm on Saturday at Madison Square Garden, sealing an 88-86 win over Marquette to close out the regular season.

The freshman from Brooklyn scored the team's final field goal of the afternoon, laying in an offensive rebound to put the Johnnies up seven, 87-80, with 1:17 to go. Trailing by two following a few clutch shots form Sacar Anim, Marquette regained possession down by two with 11 seconds to play. All-American Markus Howard brought the ball into the front court with a clear lane to the basket and a shot send the game into overtime. Champagnie slid into the paint and stripped the reigning BIG EAST Player of the Year, giving St. John's the ball back with less than three seconds to go and all but assuring the Red Storm a victory.

Champagnie registered his fourth double-double of the campaign, posting 21 points and a season-high 12 boards. The reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Week, who scored 23 at Butler on Wednesday, also tallied two blocks and a pair of steals. He shot 7-for-16 from the floor, including a 2-for-5 effort from deep.

Greg Williams Jr., who also made a key defensive effort in the final seconds of the contest, finished in double figures for the fourth straight game, netting 17 points to go along with four steals and three assists. Williams came up with a steal as time expired following two missed St. John's free throws to eliminate a last-second chance for Marquette. The sophomore from Lafayette, La., made six of his 10 field goal tries, including two of his four attempts from beyond the arc.

Suiting up in a Division I game for the 129^th time on Saturday afternoon, Nick Rutherford scored more points than he had in any of his previous 128 appearances. The Indianapolis native registered a career-high 19 points and six assists on Senior Day, sinking seven of his 10 field goal tries and two of his three attempts from downtown.

LJ Figueroa was one of four Johnnies to finish in double figures, logging 15 points, three assists and three steals.

As a team, St. John's shot 56.7 percent in the first half and went 7-for-12 (58.3%) from three-point range. The Johnnies managed to hang on despite shooting 38.7 percent from the floor, 20.0 percent from deep and 53.6 percent from the line (15-of-28) in the second stanza.

The Red Storm forced Marquette into 20 turnovers, 14 of which came in the first half. The Johnnies, who recorded 10 of their 12 steals before the break, converted those 20 Golden Eagle miscues into 27 points.

St. John's (16-15, 5-13 BIG EAST) has now finished with a winning record in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2013-14 and 2014-15. The Johnnies wrap the regular season tied for eighth in the conference standings with Georgetown and will open up the BIG EAST Tournament as the no. 9 seed against the Hoyas on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

The Red Storm could not have envisioned a better start to the contest, making four of its first five field goal attempts and forcing turnovers on five of Marquette's first six possessions to take a 12-0 lead with less than three minutes gone in the game.

The Johnnies' lead was short-lived, as Marquette scored the game's next 12 points to tie the score at the 12:35 mark of the period. Howard sank two 3-pointers during the spurt.

Trailing for the first time, 16-14, the Johnnies uncorked their second big run of the afternoon, making 12 of their next 13 field goal tries and pulling ahead by as many as 21, 45-24, with 1:42 to go in the half.

The Red Storm, which ended the run with 10 straight made field goals, received eight points from Rutherford and five apiece from Champagnie and Williams on the spurt. Defensively, St. John's forced seven Marquette turnovers during the 31-8 run spanning just over eight minutes.

Trailing by 19 at the intermission, Marquette began to find success from deep at the start of the second half, hitting four early 3-pointers to pull within 12, 55-43, with just over four minutes gone in the period.

The Johnnies answered with a 7-0 run, pushing the lead back to 19, 64-43, on a Williams tip-in slam just a minute and a half later. The Golden Eagles quickly responded with a 7-0 spurt of their own, whittling the deficit back to 12 with 12:27 to go.

Marquette cut the lead to single digits for the first time with just under eight minutes to go and pulled within four, 78-74, on a Howard three with 3:53 to play.

A Howard layup with 2:41 remaining made it a one-possession game, 83-80, for the first time since the 7:30 mark of the first half.

St. John's bumped its advantage back to seven, 87-80, with 1:17 to go following consecutive buckets from Rasheem Dunn and Champagnie.

Anim drained a triple on the next possession before Figueroa went 1-for-2 from the line, giving the Johnnies a five-point lead, 88-83, with 53 seconds to play. Anim then made three the old-fashioned way on the Golden Eagles' next possession, bringing Marquette within two, 88-86, with 44 seconds remaining.

The Red Storm ran down the shot clock before a Rutherford three-point attempt fell off target, giving Marquette the ball, down two, with 11 seconds to go. Champagnie then came away with his decisive strip of Howard on the ensuing possession, all but sealing the St. John's victory.

The Johnnies and Georgetown will open BIG EAST Tournament play against one another for the third time in the last four years on Wednesday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. on FS1. The Red Storm will look to avenge a pair of regular season losses to the Hoyas (15-16, 5-13 BIG EAST).