Julian Champagnie scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half as St. John's rallied to an 81-71 victory over Seton Hall on Saturday in New York.
Dylan Addae-Wusu scored 14 points off the bench for the Red Storm (16-10, 10-9 Big East), who overcame an early 18-0 deficit to secure a bye in the first round of the conference tournament. The victory was St. John's ninth in its last 12 games and avenged its 77-68 setback to Seton Hall on Dec. 11.
Marcellus Earlington made a career-high four 3-pointers to finish with 12 points and Greg Williams Jr. added 11 for the Red Storm.
St. John's overcame an ice-cold performance to start the game to finish 51.8 percent from the floor and 45.5 from 3-point range.
Sandro Mamukelashvili collected 15 points and 10 rebounds and Shavar Reynolds added 13 for the Pirates (13-12, 10-9), who have lost a season-high four in a row.
St. John's chipped away at its sizable deficit in the first half before igniting sizzling surge to begin the second. The Red Storm scored 28 of the first 36 points to begin the second half, with Addae-Wusu capping the run with a 3-pointer and two free throws to give St. John's a 56-46 lead with 11:28 to play.
The Pirates halved the deficit with five quick points before the Red Storm answered in short order. Vince Cole drained a 3-pointer and Rasheem Dunn had an uncontested layup to regain a 10-point edge with 7:30 remaining.
Myles Cale and Bryce Aiken each sank a 3-pointer to trim St. John's lead to 76-71 with 44 seconds left, but the Red Storm salted the game away from the free-throw line.
Mamukelashvili and Jared Rhoden each scored six points as Seton Hall bolted out to an 18-0 lead. St. John's misfired on its first 10 shots from the floor -- and five from 3-point range -- before Addae-Wusu converted a three-point play at 6:59 of the first half.
Johnathan McGriff and Earlington each made a 3-pointer and Williams converted from beyond the arc to trim Seton Hall's lead to 32-26 with 3:07 left. The Pirates answered with three free throws and Aiken's 3-pointer before Williams sank a jumper to end the half.
--Field Level Media
Seton Hall | St. John's | |
Sandro Mamukelashvili 15 | Scoring | Julian Champagnie 22 |
Sandro Mamukelashvili 4 | Assists | Rasheem Dunn 5 |
Sandro Mamukelashvili 10 | Rebounds | Julian Champagnie 6 |
Jared Rhoden 6 | Free Throws Made | Julian Champagnie 7 |
Shavar Reynolds Jr. 4 | Steals | Julian Champagnie 2 |
Ike Obiagu 3 | Blocks | Isaih Moore 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Seton Hall | 71 | 40.7 | 7-22 | 16-21 | 15 | 29 | 3 | 7 | 13 |
St. John's | 81 | 51.8 | 10-22 | 13-16 | 17 | 30 | 2 | 8 | 15 |