Johnnies Big East Tournament Run Ends in Quarterfinals

Written by: Jack Sargente

The First Round of the Big East Tournament kicked off on Wednesday, March 9th with a trio of games in which St. John’s would be featured in the middle of the three. The first game would be the 8-9 (seed) matchup of Xavier vs. Butler, St. John’s would then be a part of the 7-10 matchup as they took on Depaul, and finally Seton Hall and Georgetown wrapped up the night in the 6-11 contest. This would be the start of St. John’s last shot to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

The first step in winning the Big East Tournament came against the DePaul Blue Demons, who the Johnnies faced just 10 days ago in Chicago. The season series between the two was split as evenly as possible; in early January St. John’s beat Depaul by 5 at Carnesecca Arena and in late February DePaul returned the favor as they beat the Red Storm by 5 on their home floor as well. Going into this game DePaul had won 3 of their last 4, so the 10-seed Blue Demons did not look to be an easy opponent for St. John’s. But when the game started all of that went out the door and the Red Storm were more than ready.

The game tipped off a little after 7 P.M. and DePaul came out of the gates roaring to a 12-2 start as they relentlessly attacked the rim. But after a Mike Anderson timeout just under the 17-minute mark the Johnnies would come back quickly as Julian Champagnie scored 7 points to help tie the game at 14 a piece. From that point on it would be utter domination for the Johnnies as Julain Champagnie absolutely went off, finishing the half with 22 points and giving St. John’s a 49-29 lead going into halftime. The second half was more of the same, St. John’s lead would not dip below 19 as the overmatched DePaul on both the offensive and defensive side. Champagnie led the charge on offense, chipping in 26 points in a game which never was close outside of the first 5 minutes. The Red Storm cruised to a 92-73 victory looking as good as they have all year as they prepared to take on the best team in the Big East year in and year out, the Villanova Wildcats.

After Handily beating the DePaul Blue Demons in the first round, the 2-seed Villanova Wildcats were waiting for the Red Storm in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament. The Wildcats are a tough matchup for the Red Storm every year, and this year is no different as Villanova swept the season series between the two. At the end of January Villanova beat St. John’s soundly at home as they held a 14-point lead at halftime and ended the game with an 11-point victory. A couple of weeks later the Wildcats came to the Garden where they would hold a 20-point lead and would hold on to a 6-point victory after a St. John’s comeback fell just short. This would be a very tough matchup for the Red Storm but in a battle of opposite play styles it would come down to the final seconds.

Villanova was coming into this game ranked number 8 in the nation and winners of their last 5 including 2 over ranked opponents. Villanova, led by 5th year senior Collin Gillespie, likes to play at a slow pace where they can get into their sets in the half court. While, as we’ve seen all season, St. John’s likes to run out in transition and get their buckets in that fashion. To start this game to Red Storm were able to play at their pace which made Villanova a little uncomfortable on offense which played a part in a very low scoring first half. Through ten minutes of play the score was only 13-9 in favor of the Johnnies as neither team was able to get into an offensive rhythm. Scoring would pick up a little in the last ten minutes of the half as Julian Champagnie ended the half with 13 points as the Red Storm were up 30-23 and 20 minutes away from making the semifinals of the Big East Tournament for the first time in over 20 years. St. John’s came out of the locker room and were on fire, all the shots that weren’t going down in the first half were dropping. The Johnnies stormed out to a 41-25 lead and would hold a double-digit lead until the 14-minute mark where Posh Alexander would pick up his 3rd foul, which would be a turning point. The absence of Posh proved to be a difference maker as Villanova would score 15 of the next 17 points and cut the Johnnies lead down to 1. In a season full of late collapses, this one was the most rapid and happened in less than 4 minutes of game time. After the Wildcat comeback Alexander would return to the game to stabilize the game and keep the Red Storm within striking distance. The teams traded buckets down the stretch, finalizing with a Stef Smith and-1 with 2 minutes left, which would be the last field goal of the game and gave the Red Storm a 1-point lead. After a missed three-pointer by Julian Champagnie on the previous possession, the Wildcats were down by one with 22 seconds left in the game to take the lead. Although it looked like the Johnnies made the final stop they needed as a Jermaine Samuels jumper would miss the mark, but the ball would bounce of the rim and eventually fell into Villanova’s Brandon Slater who would be fouled by Julian Champagnie with just 2 seconds left. Slater would drain both free throws and after a Stef Smith half court heave hit of the backboard the Red Storm’s 17-point lead blew up in smoke as the Villanova Wildcats defeated them by a score of 66-65 which kicked them out of the Big East Tournament and effectively ended St. John’s NCAA Tournament hopes.

The Big East Tournament started off on a positive note for St. John’s as they breezed past DePaul by 19 points in an all-around dominant performance. Which even carried over into the next game as they were beating the top-10 Villanova Wildcats by 17 points early in the second half. But that lead would quickly evaporate and the hopes of making a Big East Tournament run would be put to a screeching halt. In a long season of grueling losses, this one would have to take the cake for the most heartbreaking for all St. John’s players and fans alike.