St. John’s Comeback Falls Short, 76-74, at Indiana

Wednesday, November 17

Bloomington, Ind. (Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall)

9 p.m.

St. John's University

2-1

Indiana

3-0

St. John's

Indiana

St. John’s Comeback Falls Short, 76-74, at Indiana

11/18/2021 12:19:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Quotes

Red Storm junior forward Julian Champagnie nets 32 points in setback

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (Nov. 17, 2021) – The St. John's men's basketball team battled to erase a 14-point deficit on Wednesday at Assembly Hall, but was unable to complete the comeback, falling to Indiana, 76-74, in The Gavitt Tipoff Games.

The Red Storm, which trailed by a dozen at the break, tied the game on a pair of occasions in the final 10 minutes and pulled within one in the closing 11 seconds. A potential game-winning 3-pointer missed its target at the final buzzer.

Julian Champagnie led the way for the Red Storm, scoring 32 points on 12-of-22 shooting, including a career-high six 3-pointers. The First Team All-BIG EAST selection, who also grabbed a team-high seven boards and scored 22 points after the intermission, eclipsed the 30-point mark for the second time as a Johnnie and finished one point shy of his career high set last season. His 32 points are the most by a BIG EAST player in a game this season.

Vermont transfer Stef Smith recorded 13 of his 16 points in the second half, a stanza in which the Johnnies shot 51.6 percent from the field. Smith went 5-of-8 from the field in the final 20 minutes, including a perfect 4-for-4 showing from inside the arc. The Ajax, Ont., product also recorded a team-high three steals.

Reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year Posh Alexander tallied 10 points, six assists, six rebounds and a pair of steals despite foul trouble.

Freshman Rafael Pinzon finished with only five points and three rebounds, but seemed to make a number of significant contributions as the Red Storm charged back in the second half.

St. John's played the final 27 minutes of the contest without Montez Mathis, who was ejected following a flagrant-2 foul late in the first half.

Preseason First Team All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis logged an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double for the Hoosiers. Redshirt senior forward Race Thompson added 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

Following a game-opening triple from Champagnie, Indiana responded with four straight makes on a 9-0 run. A Mathis 3-pointer brought the Red Storm back within a pair, 12-10, at the 14:27 mark of the half, but the Johnnies converted on just one field goal in the next 10 minutes of gameplay, allowing the Hoosiers to climb ahead by 13, 32-19, with four and a half minutes left in the period.

Leading by 12 at the break, Indiana opened the second-half scoring with a free throw before the Johnnies uncorked a 10-2 run to pull within five, 42-37, with just two minutes gone in the stanza. Champagnie and Smith chipped in five points apiece on the spurt.

Indiana built its lead back to 10 before the Red Storm went off on another run, this time a 7-0 tear, to make it one-possession game, 49-46, with 14:39 to go.

Indiana climbed back ahead by seven, 56-49, before a couple of tough plays pulled the Johnnies even. The highlight of the run came from Pinzon, who battled for an offensive rebound, the team's second of the possession, before draining a left-wing triple to bring St. John's within two. Alexander sank two free throws next time down to make it 56-56.

The Hoosiers responded with a 7-0 run over the next 90 seconds, but the Johnnies answered right back with a 7-0 run of their own to tie it at 65. Champagnie scored the final five points of the spurt.

Jackson-Davis and Thompson buried back-to-back buckets to make it 69-65, before a Champagnie triple brought the Johnnies back within one.

The two teams traded blows the rest of the way. Champagnie's final basket of the night brought St. John's back within one with 11 seconds to play. A 1-for-2 trip to the line from Xavier Johnson gave the Red Storm a look at the potential game-winner with eight seconds to go, but a final three from Champagnie missed its mark.

St. John's will return to action on Saturday when it hosts Fairleigh Dickinson at Carnesecca Arena. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. on FS2.