Julian Champagnie scored 22 points as visiting St. John's withstood two second-half comeback attempts by Marquette and posted a 75-73 victory on Sunday in Milwaukee.
St. John's (11-7, 5-6 Big East) led most of the way despite squandering a 15-point lead at halftime and nearly blowing an eight-point advantage in the final 5:41 remaining. The Red Storm won their fourth straight game and fifth in six contests while sweating out the final minutes.
Champagnie's final points were two free throws with 5:41 to go that gave St. John's a 67-59 lead. The Red Storm allowed the Golden Eagles (8-9, 4-7) to chip away and the lead was down to 67-66 on a 3-pointer by Koby McEwen with 3:37 remaining.
St. John's took a 71-68 lead with 1:26 left on a layup by Posh Alexander after he stole the ball from D.J. Carton. The Red Storm then held a 73-70 edge on a layup by Dylan Addae-Wusu with 42 seconds remaining and claimed a 75-71 lead on two free throws by Rasheem Dunn with 21 seconds to go.
Dawson Garcia's putback made it a 75-73 game with 12 seconds left and Marquette had another chance when Champagnie was called for traveling one second later. McEwen missed a layup with three seconds left and St. John's clinched the win when Dunn intercepted Carton's inbounds pass right before the buzzer.
Alexander added 15 points to go along with a career-high six steals for the Red Storm, who shot 44.4 percent and won a third straight Big East road game for the first time since January 2013.
Garcia tied a career high with 20 points but Marquette dropped its third straight game since its 73-71 win at St. John's on Jan. 16. Theo John added 16 points and Carton contributed 14 for the Golden Eagles, who shot 42.1 percent.
The Red Storm held a 46-31 by halftime after a 3-pointer by Champagnie and a 3-point play by Alexander in the final 46 seconds.
Marquette stormed back in the opening minutes after halftime, using a 20-5 run to forge a 51-51 deadlock on a 3-pointer by Jamal Cain with 14:46 left. St. John's ripped off a 12-2 run and took a 63-53 lead on Champagnie's layup with 10 minutes left.
--Field Level Media
St. John's | Marquette | |
Julian Champagnie 22 | Scoring | Dawson Garcia 20 |
Vince Cole 4 | Assists | D.J. Carton 4 |
Julian Champagnie 7 | Rebounds | Dawson Garcia 9 |
Julian Champagnie 4 | Free Throws Made | D.J. Carton 6 |
Posh Alexander 6 | Steals | Jamal Cain 3 |
Isaih Moore 2 | Blocks | Theo John 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
St. John's | 75 | 44.4 | 9-19 | 10-10 | 13 | 30 | 4 | 8 | 14 |
Marquette | 73 | 42.1 | 5-17 | 20-24 | 11 | 32 | 3 | 8 | 12 |