Down to the Wire Loss on the Road

St. John’s went on their first road trip of the season as they traveled to Bloomington, Indiana as they took on the Indiana Hoosiers at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Red Storm fell short in a game that came down to the final seconds with an ending score of 76-74. Even though they fell short, it was a promising game for the Johnnies as they showed a lot of fight in a hostile environment against a very good Indiana team.

This game was the classic tale of two halves; Indiana came out to a roaring start in the first half as they hounded the Johnnies offense. St. John’s offense could not get any momentum going on offense in the first half as they were only able to muster up 27 points as they shot 33.3% from the field. At the same time Indiana had an efficient 1st half as they scored 39 points while shooting 51.6%. Going into halftime, Indiana’s star big man Trayce Jackson-Davis lead the Hoosiers with 10 points as he was dominating the game on both ends of the floor. The combo of Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson in the paint were causing havoc as St. John’s was not able to do anything in the paint. Indiana did a great job of forcing St. John’s out of the paint and making them take contested jumpers and they just were not falling. The Johnnies offense was stagnant from the second the game started; the only one who was able to get any momentum going in the early part of the first half was guard Montez Mathis. Although, that did not last long as he was tagged with a flagrant 2 foul as he was trying to stop forward Miller Kopp at the rim. Mathis gave a hard foil as Kopp slammed on the hardwood and the referees decided a flagrant 2 foul was warranted which ejected Montez Mathis for the rest of the game. With Posh Alexander struggling with foul trouble early and the loss of Montez Mathis, it would set up a big second half for Champagnie who had 10 points at half.

Even though it was a rough first half for the Red Storm, Coach Anderson’s crew refused to go down without a fight. The Vermont transfer Stef Smith got the Red Storm off to a hot start in the second half as he scored 5 quick points which cut the Hoosier lead down to 8. The Johnnies defense also played a big part in their hot start as they were able to get transition buckets as they were able to get turnovers and rebound off missed shots. But there is no way around it, Julian Champagnie took over the second half as he scored 20 points in the half alone including the next 5 points which then quickly chopped down the deficit to 5 points. It was a fierce back and forth battle for most of the half as Champagnie was keeping the Red Storm in it as the duo of Jackson-Davis and Thompson tried to extend the Hoosiers lead. St. John’s was able to get the deficit down to five but was not able to close that gap until they got a much-needed boost off the bench from the freshman from Puerto Rico, Rafael Pinzon. Pinzon came off the bench and immediately made a difference as he grabbed an offensive board and drained a 3 to cut the deficit to two. Posh Alexander then drained 2 free throws to tie it at 56, but Indiana quickly reclaimed a 5-point lead with 6 minutes to play. Champagnie then tied it at 65 again as he hit a big three, but yet again Indiana pulled away with 4 straight point. St. John’s fought back again leaving them down 76-74 with 9 seconds left to play. The Red Storm had to go the length of the court, the ball was passed to Pinzon who took it up the court and threw an errant to Julian Champagnie who had to then shoot a tough three-pointer which missed the mark and ended the game.

This was a great showing of strength and fortitude from the Johnnies as they had a very disappointing first half and were able to bounce back and ultimately had a chance to win the game at the end. Julian Champagne had one of his best games at St. John’s putting up 30 points, lead the team with 7 rebounds, and was lethal from beyond the arc. Although, what ended up hurting St. John’s was their sloppy offensive play in the first half and inability to contain the Hoosiers two best players in Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson who scored 18 and 15 apiece. St. John’s should be able to get back on path as they come back home to face and 0-2 and struggling Farleigh Dickinson Knights. As long as they do not overlook the Knights, the Johnnies should be able to take care of them and improve on their 2-1 record. The Red Storm will take on the Knights back in Queens on Saturday November 20th at 6 P.M. which can be watched on FS2.