St. John’s to Host Creighton on Wednesday in Queens
Red Storm men’s basketball team will look to pick up its third straight win
QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's men's basketball team will look to make it three straight wins on Wednesday when it welcomes Creighton to Carnesecca Arena.
Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. on FS1 with Kevin Kugler and Bill Raftery on the call from Queens. Fans can also catch the LEARFIELD Red Storm Sports Network broadcast with John Minko and Vin Parise on the Varsity Network app, TuneIn Radio, XM Radio channel 382 and channel 972 in the SXM app, RedStormSports.com and the St. John's Red Storm mobile app.
Limited tickets for the game remain and can be purchased by clicking here or by calling 1-888-GO-STORM. Wednesday night will serve as the Red Storm's annual Whiteout Game, as all fans in attendance will receive a white t-shirt courtesy of Ridgewood Savings Bank. 1,500 Johnnies fans will also secure a Ridgewood Savings Bank rally towel.
St. John's (15-11, 7-8 BIG EAST) will play its second straight game at Carnesecca Arena, where the team is 10-1 this season and undefeated against unranked opponents. The Johnnies are averaging 83.7 points per outing on 51.5 percent shooting in Queens and have outscored the opposition by an average margin of +14.4.
In their last contest on campus, the Johnnies matched their largest-ever margin of victory in 43 years of BIG EAST play, defeating Butler, 91-57. The win equaled a 104-70 drubbing of Providence on Feb. 15, 1999, a season that saw the Red Storm reach the Elite Eight.
In that win over the Bulldogs, the Red Storm shot a blistering 61.4 percent from the floor, marking the first time that St. John's had shot 60.0 percent or better in a BIG EAST game since Dec. 29, 2010, against West Virginia. Against Butler, the Johnnies also connected on 11 of their 22 attempts from beyond the arc, shot 90.9 percent from the free throw line and assisted 23 of their 35 made baskets. The Red Storm also dominated the boards, pulling down 35 caroms to the Bulldogs' 21.
Leading the way offensively was Julian Champagnie, who poured in 31 points on 11-of-22 shooting, grabbed seven boards and recorded a career-high seven steals. Thanks also to a 27-point showing earlier in the week at Xavier, Champagnie earned a number of individual accolades for his efforts. On Monday, he was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week for the first time this season, a day before taking home Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week honors from the United States Basketball Writers Association and being tabbed as the All-Met Player of the Week from the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association. On the season, Champagnie leads the league in scoring at 19.2 points game in addition to topping the team in rebounds at 6.6 per contest. The junior from Brooklyn also ranks second in the BIG EAST and 38th nationally with 2.0 steals per outing.
Posh Alexander, the only player in the BIG EAST to average more steals than Champagnie, tallied his third double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 assists on Friday night. The sophomore from Brooklyn ranks eighth in the BIG EAST in scoring (14.5 ppg) and second in assists (5.3 apg), one of only two players in the conference alongside UConn's R.J. Cole to sit inside the top 10 of both categories. Alexander's 2.5 thefts per game rank fifth nationally overall and first among high-major players.
Graduate student Aaron Wheeler continued his stellar stretch of play against the Bulldogs, registering 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including a 4-of-5 showing from beyond the arc. After scoring just 45 points in 10 non-conference appearances, Wheeler is averaging 13.8 points per game during conference play, good enough for 12th in the league. The Stamford, Conn., native, who has reached double figures in 13 of his last 14 games, leads the BIG EAST in both field goal percentage (51.0%) and 3-point field goal percentage (44.9%) during conference action.
After the win, St. John's jumped to no. 66 in the NET rankings and no. 60 in KenPom, the latter of which is the Red Storm's highest ranking since Dec. 3. The Johnnies enter the week in a three-way tie for sixth place in the BIG EAST standings with Xavier and Seton Hall.
Creighton (18-8, 10-5 BIG EAST) comes to Queens having won five straight, including an 83-82 win over Marquette on Sunday in Omaha. Sophomore center Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting to pace five Bluejays in double figures. Ryan Nembhard added 18 points while Ryan Hawkins chipped in 17 despite not connecting on a 3-pointer.
Hawkins, who won two Division II national championships at Northwester Missouri State, averages team-highs 14.0 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Alex O'Connell, a Duke transfer who scored 28 points against the Johnnies on Jan. 19 in Omaha, ranks second on the squad with 12.3 points per outing.
St. John's and Creighton will meet for the 25th time in a series that dates back to 1961. The Bluejays hold a 14-10 advantage all-time over the Johnnies and have won four of the last five meetings between the teams. The Red Storm's lone win during that stretch came on March 1, 2020, at Carnesecca Arena, as the Johnnies took down then-No. 10 Creighton, 91-71, behind 14 3-pointers, seven of which came from Greg Williams Jr.
None of the last seven meetings between St. John's and Creighton have been decided by fewer than 12 points. The Red Storm is 3-4 in those last seven contests.
