St. John's goes cold down stretch in loss to Connecticut
Dylan Addae-Wusu #5 of the St. John's Red Storm misses a shot attempt late in the second half against Matt Garry #41 of the Connecticut Huskies at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022 in New York City. Credit: Jim McIsaac
More and more, it looks as if St. John’s is going to need an extended run in the Big East Tournament next month to meet the NCAA Tournament expectations that surrounded it at season’s start.
The Red Storm had a real shot to score a win over a ranked opponent when they took on No. 24 Connecticut at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Instead, they came away with another frustrating loss. St. John’s — again missing Posh Alexander because of a right ankle sprain— led by seven points with 7:46 to play, then managed only five points the rest of the way as the Huskies earned a 63-60 win before a crowd of 6,567.
The Red Storm (13-11, 5-8) again missed out on a resume-building "Quad 1" victory, and there is no certainty in the last six regular-season games that they will get to face another nationally ranked team (No. 18 Marquette lost twice this past week and No. 25 Xavier lost once). In Quad 1 games, St. John’s is 1-9, including five losses by eight or fewer points.
"It’s frustrating as a player," said Julian Champagnie, who had 13 points (6-for-16 shooting) and 11 rebounds. "I feel like we go out every night and give our all. And when the games are decided by one or two possessions or a free throw, that’s frustrating."
"It was one of those games where we just came up short again," Red Storm coach Mike Anderson said. "It wasn’t for a lack of effort; sometimes it’s a lack of execution. I told our guys this loss falls on me. I maybe didn’t have the right people out there at the right time [or] use my timeouts properly."
Stef Smith’s three-point shot hit the rim three times before falling through to cap an 11-0 run that put the Red Storm up 55-48 with 7:46 to play. UConn answered with an 11-0 run of its own as St. John’s went 0-for-8 shooting with a turnover on its next eight possessions. The Huskies (17-7, 8-5) overtook St. John’s when Isaiah Whaley turned an offensive rebound into a three-point play for a 57-55 lead with 3:47 left. Adama Sonogo’s one-handed floater with 2:18 to play made it 59-55.
Champagnie went to the line for a one-and-one with 1:37 left and a chance to tie it, but the 77% free-throw shooter missed the front end. Tyrese Martin scored on a putback with 22 seconds left to get the margin back to four, and six seconds later, Aaron Wheeler made a three-pointer to get the Red Storm within 61-60.
St. John’s fouled R.J. Cole, who made both ends of a one-and-one, and Wheeler’s three-pointer at the buzzer, which was heavily contested by Martin, missed the mark.
Wheeler had 13 points but shot 5-for-18 as St. John’s was a miserable 33.8% from the floor and 7-for-13 on free throws. The Red Storm missed 19 layups.
Martin totaled 17 points and Cole added 14 for UConn.
"The amount of layups we missed in the game is unacceptable," Champagnie said. "We have to make shots. When we have open opportunities, we have to knock them down. We have to get better, to be honest. That goes for me and everybody else. You just have to be better."
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
