Author: Dylan Kelly

Get Hot, Stay Hot

In my opinion, the biggest key to beating a national powerhouse like Kansas is getting out to a hot start and showing that you belong from the start. They need to put Kansas on their heels from the opening tip and never let them get comfortable.

Since the game versus St. Peter’s on November 13th, we haven’t played a strong first half of basketball. Against teams like NJIT and St. Francis Brooklyn, a slow start in the first half is fairly easy to overcome, but against Kansas a slow start could cost us the game. Take the Indiana game for example; we played an outstanding second half of basketball, socring 47 points and outscoring Indiana by 10. Unfortunately such a slow start in the first half put us down 12 at the break, and we just fell short of overcoming it. Tonight we need to get hot and stay hot.

Defensive Pressure

As I said above, we can never let Kansas feel comfortable on the court tonight. This is a HOME GAME for us, let’s treat it like one. Our identity is defense, tonight we need to give Kansas hell for 40 minutes. Kansas has some really talented guards, but they have not yet faced on ball defenders as talented as Posh Alexander or Montez Mathis. St. John’s ranks 18th in the country in turnover rate, they need to continue to play at that type of level tonight in order to secure the win. Ochai Agbaji is the leading scorer for Kansas, tallying 22.5 PPG. He is extremely efficient from beyond the arc, as he shoots 41.7% from deep. He needs to be priority number one from a defensive standpoint. And of course, the defense will feed off the energy from the crowd.

Get LOUD

Let’s Get Loud, Let’s Get Loud
Turn the music up, let’s do it
C’mon people Let’s Get Loud
Let’s Get Loud
Turn the music up to hear that sound

Need I say more. Everyone knows how much of an affect home court advantage can have on a college basketball team. It is our moral responsibility as fans of St. John’s basketball, to help give our team the edge in anyway possible tonight. It may mean yelling at a Kansas player that they have a hot sister/mom, screaming at the ref when he blows a call, or starting a chant to get the arena going. We have over 1,000 students going to the game tonight. That’s a lot of Johnnies in one place. Let’s make sure UBS is rocking.

“I’m BACK, back in the New York groove….back, back in the New York groove.”

Mike Anderson and the St. John’s Mens Basketball team are off to a hot start to the 2021-2022 season. There is so much to be excited about with this team, let’s dive into a few of my key takeaways from the first two games of the season.

Key Takeaways

Tareq Coburn Doesn’t Miss

Tareq Coburn has turned himself into a St. John’s fan favorite very quickly. There is something about the way the ball looks coming out of his hand when he shoots the three, that just looks perfect. He has a super effortless three-point stroke and does his scoring extremely efficiently. Against Mississippi Valley State, Coburn shot 3-5 from beyond the arc and 5-8 from the field, tallying 13 total points. Following that performance, Coburn shot 3-5 from deep, 5-7 from the field, and 4-5 from the free throw line, in a 17-point performance against St. Peter’s.

Tareq Coburn 1K 👀

1,000 career points for doc 🩺 pic.twitter.com/q2044NsMCl

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) November 13, 2021

Landing Coburn in the transfer portal was an absolute steal for Mike Anderson. He is seemingly going to be the X-factor for this very talented St. John’s team.

Get Out of my Paint

For anyone who has watched St. John’s basketball in recent years, you are well aware of the struggles that we have had with getting a solid big man to hold down the paint. Well, ladies and gentlemen we have our guy. Introducing, Joel Soriano.

GET OUT THE WAY pic.twitter.com/1VW65lN56V

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) November 13, 2021

Standing in at 6-foot-11 and 260 pounds, Soriano represents the first true “Big East level” big man that St. John’s has had in many years. Perhaps what stands out the most about Soriano is his ability to consistently knock down free throws. Past St. John’s big men have struggled immensely to gain consistency from the line, however Soriano looks to be very comfortable. In the home opener, he went 7-8 from the free throw line. Consistent free throw shooting from our big men is going to be vital against tough opponents. It is also worth mentioning that through the first two games of the year, Soriano has averaged 9 rebounds and 3 blocked shots per game. Joel Soriano is primed for a very special junior season with the Red Storm, and fans are thrilled to have him on our side.

Back and Better Than Ever

Whether your watching the game live in the arena, on a television, or even if you are just checking the box score, your eyes are drawn to two players. Posh Alexander and Julian Champagnie. These two guys were incredible last season, and they look even better now.

Posh Alexander stuffed the stat-sheet against Mississippi Valley State and St. Peter’s.

	PTS	REB	AST	STL
Mississippi Valley State	18	1	7	3
St. Peter’s	12	2	9	1

His unselfishness with the basketball and tenacious defense is the motor that keeps this team rolling. He plays the game at 100 MPH for the entire 40 minutes and his passion rubs off onto others around him. After a freshman campaign that saw him achieve the Big East Freshman of the Year award and Big East Defensive Player of the Year award, the next step in his progression as a player was clearly to develop a consistent three-point shot. And so far, it looks like he has.

The rest of the Big East has to be shaking in their boots if they are seeing how well Posh Alexander is shooting

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) November 10, 2021

Posh shot 4-5 from beyond the arc against Mississippi Valley State, and followed up that performance by going 2-4 on three-point shots against St. Peter’s. If he can keep up this type of pace, he is going to be even more of a nightmare for opposing teams.

Lastly, you can simply never talk about/write an article about St. John’s and not mention Julian Champagnie. The best way I can describe him is as “Mr. Consistent”. A year ago, Julian was the Big East scoring champ and so far this season it seems like he is coming for that honor yet again.

Julian Champagnie today:

-22 points
-4 rebounds
-5/10 3PT
pic.twitter.com/5ihhHm1xY0

— Barstool Bench Mob (@stoolbenchmob) November 13, 2021

Champagnie is the centerpiece to an extremely special St. John’s team. He tallied 20 points in the opener and 22 points vs. St. Peter’s last night. Every team needs “the guy” offensively and he is THAT GUY for the Red Storm.

Allow me to introduce you to Jalen Rosemond, your favorite walk-ons favorite walk-on.

Journey to D1

Jalen Rosemond had no offers coming out of high school. Local division three schools like Suny Oneonta, Suny Cortland, John Jay, and Brockport expressed interest in the 6-foot-8 forward, but Jalen wasn’t interested in playing division three. He said, “I wanted to go somewhere that I started at the bottom of the ladder so I could expose myself to the best competition, most strict coaches, and tough practices that would develop me into the best version of myself”. Clearly, Rosemond is an extremely motivated individual who consistently pushes his limits athletically. He went on to say, “I wanted to play for a D2 or D1 where I had to fight for a tick of playing time everyday at practice”, he recognizes that this type of competition on a daily basis is what will maximize his growth as a basketball player in the long run.

Unfortunately, the St. John’s Men’s Basketball team did not pick him up right away.

In Jalen’s freshmen year he was a practice player for the women’s basketball team, while playing on the men’s club team at the same time. Although this was certainly not the end goal, it proved to play an important role in his basketball journey at St. John’s. Being a practice player for the women’s team helped propel his growth on the court, “I love the game, I love playing and watching and I wanted to develop a better IQ for college basketball. Being on the women’s practice team that entire year in the division 1 environment helped me learn and sharpen some fundamentals”.

St johns got hoopers right here on campus, they need some love too pic.twitter.com/No7FZWKupr

— Jalen Rosemond (@jalen_rose7) May 1, 2019

Fast forward to his sophomore year, Jalen shows up to tryouts for the men’s team. Coaches already were familiar with him because of his time spent with the women’s team, and they knew that he wanted to be a part of the men’s team. He took care of business at tryouts and throughout his sophomore year he was used as a practice player for the men’s team. He takes pride in competing with the scholarship players and pushing them everyday.

In his junior season (2020-2021), Coach Anderson promoted Rosemond to a walk-on. All of the hard work paid off. Unfortunately, Jalen suffered an injury in early November of 2020 which forced him to miss his Junior season. He will be fully recovered for his Senior year and says, “I can’t wait to see the fans back in Carnesecca for Tip-Off this year”.

Top Attributes on the Court

What’s the number one thing Jalen brings to a basketball team? He says it’s “that I’m going to compete and make my teammates better”. He values the importance of stepping in for charges, being relentless on the board, and diving on loose balls…in ANY DRILL or scrimmage. Rosemond works his tail off daily and in doing so, makes his teammates work a little bit harder.

Inside a St. John’s Practice

I asked Rosemond who the most difficult person to guard was in his last couple of years with the team. He acknowledged that it was a tough question, but ultimately said “either Mustapha or Champagnie”. Which is really a surprise to no one at all, I wouldn’t want to be on the defensive side against either of them in a 1v1.

Favorite Spot to Eat on Campus

Jalen’s favorite food on campus is “hibachi from Monty’s, not the law school, at Montys”. Of course this was closed this past year due to COVID, as was his second favorite food option, the Campus Diner.

What’s Next?

Jalen says that he is super excited to see how far this team can go. He said, “I think we have some great new pieces to the team and seeing them go at it in pickup you get excited about what we can do when the season starts. I think you will see us standing come late March”. Music to St. John’s fans ears. The 2021-2022 season cannot come soon enough.

Who is Drissa Traore?

Drissa Traore is a 6-foot-8 forward from LUHI. He has the perfect build, play style, and passion for defense for Mike Anderson’s up tempo style. He is a fierce competitor who is ready to challenge himself at the next level. Traore has played with and against some of the best high school talent in the country, which has prepared him tremendously for Big East basketball. When discussing his high school experience he said that playing against teams like Sierra Canyon, The Patrick School, etc. has “given me confidence to show that I can compete with those high level players.

Full Interview

Home Sweet Home

Believe it or not Drissa originally didn’t want to go to school in New York. However he loves Mike Anderson’s play style. He ultimately chose St. John’s to further his academic and athletic career because of the success he saw Mike Anderson have in his first year at the helm and because the coaching staff made him feel wanted. Traore is excited to be in the Red and White this fall, “For me, watching them (on TV) is so exciting because I’m going to be there next year”.

He personally knows fellow New Yorker’s such as Dylan Addae-Wusu, Posh Alexander, and Julian Champagnie. He says how these guys “Play for New York” and this was intriguing to him. He has actually played with Dylan Addae-Wusu when they were younger. The two will look to reestablish that chemistry for the 2021-2022 season.

What Does he Bring to a Basketball Team?

Energy.

Traore said that, “What I’m going to bring is energy. Energy, rebounding, defense, talking”. He truly seems like a perfect fit for Mike Anderson’s 40-minutes of hell style of play and I think that Drissa Traore will prove to be a real hidden gem in this recruiting class.

Off the Court

Hobbies: Collecting Shoes

Favorite NBA Player: KD or LeBron (but he says he has many favorites so I asked him for his All time starting 5 instead)

Dream Job: Having his own business or being a teacher/coach.

All Time Starting 5:

PG: Steve Nash

SG: Kobe Bryant

SF: Michael Jordan

PF: LeBron James

C: Hakeem Olajuwon

St. John’s fans are going to be seeing many new faces on the men’s basketball team next season. Andrés Pinzón is one of the team’s most highly touted recruits for next season. Pinzón is originally from Puerto Rico, but has most recently played his High School Basketball at LUHI. He agreed to join me for an interview via zoom where we discussed his High School/FIBA basketball experiences, why he chose St. John’s, what fans can expect from him, and some of his off the court interests.

Excuse my lack of video editing experience.

High School Career

LUHI is a national basketball powerhouse year in and year out. Of course, most fans tend to focus on the incredible highlights from LUHI games against schools like Sierra Canyon and the Patrick School. However, aside from the games, Pinzón explained how “every day in practice was a lot of competition”. He says that the competition he saw in practice against guys like Andre Curbelo, Zed Key, and Jalen Celestine prepared him well to succeed at the next level. He still keeps in touch with those guys, specifically Andre Curbelo (Illinois University Point Guard) as they both have connections with the Puerto Rico National team.

Playing on the Puerto Rico national team and his experiences in FIBA is certainly things that make Pinzón unique in comparison to other St. John’s recruits. He absolutely stuffed the stat sheet throughout the U17 FIBA tournament in 2019; his best outing was against the Dominican Republic when he scored 28 points. He spoke about his FIBA experience, saying that “the game is slower so you have to read a lot of defenses so it helped me when I play in the United States because the game is way faster”. This sort of experience with reading defense is so valuable to a young college player, especially in the Big East.

A Look Into The Future

Why did Andrés Pinzón want to come to St. John’s? Well the answer is really quite simple. He wanted to stay in New York. When I asked him why St. John’s over schools such as Florida or New Mexico, he said that he “didn’t want to move to another state”. He went on to acknowledge Assistant Coach Van Macon as a crucial piece in his recruiting process. He and Coach Van Macon made a connection that played a role in getting Pinzón to commit to St. John’s.

When I asked Andrés what the best thing he brings to a basketball team is he told me that it was the ability to make others better. He says, “I can create for me, for my teammates…I like to share the ball and keep everybody involved”.

Life Outside of Basketball

To complete the interview we talked about some of the things he likes to do when he’s not playing basketball.

Hobbies: Going to the studio to hangout with his friends who rap (Andrés does not rap himself)

Favorite Rap Artist: Anuel & Bad Bunny

Dream Job that’s not playing basketball: Astronaut

In a conference like the Big East, it is an incredible accomplishment if just one person from your program earns a conference honor. This year the Johnnies finished the regular season with several Big East awards.

Coach of the Year

Mike Anderson, a.k.a. Iron Mike, took home the hardware for Big East Coach of the year.

BREAKING: Mike Anderson has won ‘Big East Coach of the Year’.

St. John’s was preseason projected to finish 9th in the conference, team finished top-4. 🤔

Give it up for Iron Mike! pic.twitter.com/M9zDK33uVg

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) March 10, 2021

After being selected to finish ninth in the preseason polls Mike Anderson made it clear that he had other plans. He knew what he had with this team, and he proved very quickly that St. John’s is no longer a bottom feeder in this league. Anderson secured yet another winning season, making it 19 straight. This season was the first time in over half a decade that the Johnnies finished with a winning record in Big East play. The choice was clear for coach of the year and I’m glad that it was as clear to everyone else as it was to me. We are lucky to have a coach like MA in Queens.

Freshmen of Year & Defensive Player of the Year

Similarly to coach of the year, in my eyes this award the “Freshman of the Year” award was never a competition. Posh Alexander showed us from day 1 that he is a special player who was going to make a major impact in this league. He was the catalyst for the Johnnies all season long and fit like a glove into Mike Anderson’s “40 minutes of hell” style of basketball. Posh averaged 11.1 points, 4.4 assists, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.6 steals. 2.6 steals per game was good enough for 7th in the nation. His relentless defensive energy and determination earned him Big East Defensive Player of the Year.

.@BIGEASTMBB Freshman of the Year hardware 🏆 #SJUBB pic.twitter.com/kYyLLuwRj9

— St. John's BBall (@StJohnsBBall) March 10, 2021

Only three players in Big East history have won Defensive Player of the Year as a freshman. Who are those players you may ask? Patrick Ewing, Alonso Mourning, and Allen Iverson. ELITE company and Big East royalty.

Side note: After missing the last two games of the regular season do to injury, Posh Alexander IS playing today vs. Seton Hall.

Most Improved Player

Julian Champagnie

Freshmen Year: 9.9 PTS, 6.5 REB, 0.8 AST, 1.2 STL, 0.8 BLK

Sophomore Year: 19.9 PTS, 7.3 REB, 1.0 AST, 1.5 STL, 1.0 BLK

Julian also improved his three point percentage by a healthy margin going from 31% a year ago to 38%. He was able to improve his percentage while shooting four more threes per game. Coming into this season he spoke about how he put in a lot of time into his jump-shot in the off-season and it showed.

Aside from being named “Most Improved Player” Julian was also selected for All-Big East First Team.

BREAKING: Julian Champagnie has been named All-Big East first-team.

Champagnie has also won the Big East scoring title, averaging 19.9 PPG.

Let’s go! ⛈ pic.twitter.com/uavrv9lCBD

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) March 7, 2021

Champagnie was a shoe-in for Big East First Team honors and there was a strong argument for him to be Player of the Year. In light of us having a game later this afternoon, I am going to keep karma on our side and I will not go on a rant about how the Player of the Year award was given out this year. Instead I will take the high road.

Over the next couple days it’ll become clear who the best player in the league is. Believe it!

Key’s to Beating Seton Hall…Again

Beating a team twice within the same week is never an easy task. However we can and will do it. After falling behind 18-0 at the start of the game, Mike Anderson rallied the troops and brought the team to within 10 points of the Pirates at the break. In the second half Julian Champagnie, Marcellus Earlington, and Dylan Wusu led the charge in what saw St. John’s out score Seton Hall 53-33 in the second half. This was easily the most impressive half of basketball that we’ve seen St. John’s play all year long and boy did it come at the right time.

When you evaluate the things that we’re doing on that run that made them so successful it really came down to two main things. Committing to slowing down Sandro Mamukelashvili and shooting efficiently from beyond the arc down the stretch. Mamukelashvili was one of the Big East Players of the Year this season. He is the motor that keeps Seton Hall moving. While it is almost impossible to slow him down, if we can hold him to 15 points like we did the other night, we can put ourselves in a very strong position for victory. Seton Hall doesn’t have a plentiful amount of scorers. It is vital that we don’t let their star forward get rolling. Back on March 6th when we beat Seton Hall, Marcellus Earlington scored 12 points on four 3-pointers. The junior forward was on fire from deep and helped to spark the massive comeback. As a team the Johnnies shot 45% from beyond the arc that night. They were extremely effective with the long ball and that played a major role in making them victorious.

MSG is our home court. Let’s take it to them. Go Johnnies.

This Team Has Grit

Don’t count us out just yet. Every time I am convinced the season’s over, this team makes me a believer again. Last night reminded me why I bleed St. John’s basketball. It was one of those games that made you proud to be a student, alumni, fan, etc. Last night’s victory was a super gritty performance, led by a tremendous effort from Rasheem Dunn. In March, it’s easy to see which team/which player wants it more. Dunn, who will be graduating this May, understands that this is his last chance at an NCAA tournament. Every game from here on out is literally the most important game of his life and last night he played like that.

Player of the Game

Rasheem Dunn was the obvious choice for last night’s player of the game.

Where were you when Rah Dunn saved the 2020-21 St. John's season

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) March 4, 2021

Dunn reminded us the importance of strong senior leadership in March. He scored a season high 21-points last night while shooting at a high clip. He played relentlessly on the defensive side of the ball and caused havoc for the Providence backcourt down the stretch in this one. You could tell he knew that with Posh out of the lineup, this was his time to take over.

What up Rah 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/NthVRWou30

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) March 4, 2021

Back-to-back transition buckets from Rasheem Dunn and #SJUBB is in front!

Timeout PC. Johnnies lead 53-51 with 11:41 to go. pic.twitter.com/7V94XtQTGH

— St. John's BBall (@StJohnsBBall) March 4, 2021

Double-double x2

Julian Champagnie and Isaih Moore both registered double-double totals last night during St. John’s comeback victory over Providence. Julian chipped in 16-points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Isaih Moore tallied 10-points and crashed the boards hard for 11 rebounds. Even in a game where Julian struggled to get his shot going, he created offense for himself by taking the ball to the rack and drawing fouls. He continues to be ultra-consistent night in and night out, which is all you can ask for from your best player and team leader.

7:58 to play here in Queens, #SJUBB leads 58-55.

Julian Champagnie with 15 points and nine boards for the Johnnies. pic.twitter.com/FHR8jjG7jU

— St. John's BBall (@StJohnsBBall) March 4, 2021

Isaih Moore was phenomenal off of the bench and played such an important role in last nights victory.

Isaih Moore was a plus-26 today. He's gotten so much better as year has gone on. #sjubb

— Zach Braziller (@NYPost_Brazille) March 4, 2021

To be plus-26 in a single game is simply ridiculous. Especially when this game was close for a majority of it. St. John’s was on another level when Moore was in there doing his thing and it didn’t go unnoticed.

Stepping up

Greg Williams Jr. has been battling a back injury for the better part of this season. Last night he looked as healthy as ever before and came up HUGE for us when we needed him the most. It’s never easy when you go into a “must-win” game without one of your top players (Posh Alexander), but it makes things easier when you have a guy like Greg Williams who isn’t afraid of the moment and was ready to step up. Greg scored 15 points last night, played hard nosed defense, and converted all his attempts at the line. He will continue to be an x-factor for this team as we head down a stretch of “must win” games.

Greg Williams Jr. highlights:

Gregoryyyyy pic.twitter.com/qIjZIBFiIX

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) March 4, 2021

This sequence for @gthemenace 👀 @StJohnsBBall x #BIGEASThoops pic.twitter.com/kGdC3Nllt2

— #BIGEASThoops (@BIGEASTMBB) March 4, 2021

Box Score

Starters	Reb	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Roberts	5	0	1	0	0	3
Champagnie	10	2	2	1	1	16
Cole	2	2	0	0	1	8
Williams Jr.	2	0	0	1	0	15
Dunn	2	3	1	0	2	21
Bench
Moore	11	3	0	0	3	10
Earlington	4	1	2	0	2	2
Wusu	2	1	0	1	3	6
McGriff	0	0	0	0	1	0

This is march. Every college basketball fan’s favorite time of the year. For St. John’s fans, spirits are down as we fall on the outside looking in to this year’s NCAA March Madness Tournament. Let’s break down what needs to happen for us to get into this year’s tournament. According to teamrankings.com, we have a 5.9% chance of making a tournament appearance this year.

Let me remind you that in March, a 1% chance is all you need in order to make something happen. Just a couple of weeks ago, every bracket expert had us right on the bubble. An embarrassing loss at home to DePaul immediately dropped us from any consideration.

St. John’s has an opportunity to make something special happen down the stretch and give us something to root for this March Madness.

Protect the Home Floor

St. John’s finishes the regular season with two home games against Providence (3/3) and Seton Hall (3/6). These are two very winnable games that can build momentum headed into the Big East Tourney. 

The last time St. John’s faced Providence, we took it to them on their home floor. Led by Julian Champagnie (24 PTS & 10 REB),  the Johnnies tallied 92 points and won in convincing fashion. Posh Alexander chipped  in 21 points that afternoon, while Rasheem Dunn notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 assists. The win against Providence was the last win of St. John’s 6-game win streak that ended a few days later against Butler.

It has been nearly three months since we last took on Seton Hall.  On December 11th we traveled to Newark for our first Big East regular season game and suffered a nine-point loss to the Pirates. Sandro Mamukelashvili led the way for Seton Hall that night as he scored a career high 32-points and also grabbed 9 rebounds. Stopping him was nearly impossible that night and I am sure that has to be the focus for Mike Anderson this coming Saturday. Like I said before, both of these games are extremely winnable. The last time we took on Seton Hall we hadn’t yet discovered our identity. Posh Alexander only had six points and zero assists that night, we all know a performance like that won’t happen again. The Johnnies look much different now then they did back in December and I’m confident we can take it to them this Saturday.

The Big East Tournament

In my opinion, winning two games in the Big East Tournament would put us back in the conversation with the Bubble teams for the tournament. If we can somehow put a run together and manage to get to the final game, then I think we are in. Now, I know this might sounds like a big stretch, but try and be a believer with me here for a second. On February 3rd, we proved that we can beat anyone in this league when we beat down Villanova for the entire 40 minutes. IF (and this is a big if) we can string together a couple of performances like that one down the stretch, we can and we will make some noise this season.

It ain’t over ’til the fat lady sings. We ride.

Big East Tournament Bracket

Big East bracket: https://t.co/vuU4jzitIB pic.twitter.com/VEV8Qhh0SI

— Zach Braziller (@NYPost_Brazille) February 26, 2021

Making History

Making a historical night even more historical: Mike Anderson keeps his special streak alive for yet ANOTHER year thanks to tonight’s win! That’s nineteen seasons and counting!

One of just four D-1 coaches with 15+ of coaching experience and ZERO losing seasons. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/0hue5GqsZO

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) February 17, 2021

Last night’s win marked Coach Anderson’s 400th career win as an NCAAM head coach. It also clinched yet another winning season for him, making it nineteen seasons straight. He is just one of four D-1 coaches with 15+ years of experience who can say this. Let’s take a look back at what was happening during Coach Anderson’s first career season as a head coach in 2002:

• The first Spider-Man was released in theaters.
• Eminem’s The Eminem Show was the biggest selling album of the year.
• Apple released its second generation iPod.
• Kelly Clarkson won the very first season of American Idol.

Nearly two decades of winning basketball at multiple high major programs is incredible. Congratulations again to Coach Anderson on making history.

Player of the Game

At this point it’s almost an automatic to choose Posh or Julian as player of the game on any given night. They could have been co-players of the game last night again, but someone else stuck out to me as a massive X-factor in this one.

5/5 from 3 off the bench tonight 🔥

Marcellus Earlington or Kyle Korver? pic.twitter.com/yPUk9UqEFE

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) February 17, 2021

Marcellus Earlington was a massive spark off of the bench for us last night. He scored 16 points and pulled down 9 rebounds (team high), coming up clutch all night long. To me, this team has two X-factors. Marcellus Earlington and Vince Cole. While Cole struggled last night, Marcellus more than made up for it. If Cellus can string a few games like this together, we are going to be in great shape for a tournament push.

Dynamic Duo

You really can’t recap any game without dedicating an entire section of the article to our star freshman point guard, Posh Alexander. Last night Posh left it all on the floor (as he always does) and gave Xavier hell for forty minutes. In the midst of a huge victory it seemed like this got slept on last night:

Posh Alexander was 2 rebounds and 1 assist away from a triple-double #sjubb

— Dylan Kelly (@ogdylankelly) February 17, 2021

I have no doubt that Posh will secure a triple-double at some point in his tenure at St. John’s. He did it all last night and not just offensively. To go along with his near triple-double performance, he also added three steals. He currently sits at seventh in that nation in that category.

It’s hard to talk about Posh without mentioning his partner in crime, Julian Champagnie. These two have developed unbreakable chemistry on the court and it is a special thing to watch. They connected for a pair of highlight alley oops last night that got everyone out of their seats.

Need. More. Of. This. Duo. pic.twitter.com/mMH2h6bS4o

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) February 17, 2021

Looks like they saw our tweet asking for more!

Posh to Jules alley-oop, part 2 🛫 pic.twitter.com/PRbb5ufYGm

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) February 17, 2021

Champagnie led the way in the scoring column last night. He tallied 21 points on a variety of shots and also went 7-7 from the free throw line. On the year, Julian is shooting 45% from the field, 42% from beyond the arc, and 87.5% from the free throw line. Outstanding numbers especially for someone who shoots at a high volume.

Game Highlights

🍪 pic.twitter.com/w6QZaOVbd6

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) February 17, 2021

What an unselfish play!

King Julian ➡️ Moore pic.twitter.com/ERW9dLCuQx

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) February 17, 2021

Rah with the dagger. pic.twitter.com/Audic55jln

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) February 17, 2021

Posh with his first triple of the night and it’s a big one for the Johnnies pic.twitter.com/9rxkoPBQSu

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) February 17, 2021

Tournament Talk

Okay, so the tournament seems to be all anyone is worried about this time of year. The way I understand it is, for us to find ourselves in the bracket we have to finish out the rest of the season 3-1 at the minimum. The only loss being to Villanova. The three must win games are DePaul, Providence, and Seton Hall. Essentially, we control our own destiny. In my eyes, if we win those 3 games and win one in the Big East tournament there is no way they can keep us out of the bracket.

Box Score

Starters	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Roberts	1	1	0	0	0	0
Champagnie	5	1	1	0	0	21
Cole	4	0	0	1	0	3
Alexander	8	9	3	0	0	15
Dunn	3	4	1	0	5	17
Bench
Moore	5	1	0	0	0	11
Earlington	0	2	0	0	2	16
Wusu	2	3	0	0	4	2
Williams	1	3	0	1	0	8

Bet the Trend

St. John’s is 5-0 ATS in the last 5 at Carnesecca 💰 #BarstoolSportsbook @betstrends @betthehoops pic.twitter.com/5uNEcV41HG

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) February 16, 2021

St. John’s improves to 6-0 ATS in the last 6 games played at Carnesecca. Shoutout to anyone who tailed this pick.

Hopefully St. John’s can keep up their winning ways with a huge game on Saturday vs. DePaul.

40 Minutes of Hell

The boys are absolutely buzzing right now and there is no slowing us down. Posh Alexander led the charge last night, taking down #3 Villanova and putting St. John’s in the national headlines. What else is there to say besides, what a damn game!

Villanova runs like a machine. St. John’s overly aggressive style of defense last night proved to be a stick in the gear and they shut the machine down.  Villanova averages just 8 turnovers a game. Last night, the Johnnies turned them over 17 times. Major credit to Mike Anderson for sticking with his style and continuing to prove that it can work against even the best teams in the country. 

After beating #23 UConn back on January 18th Posh Alexander said in a post game press conference that, “I personally feel like we can beat anybody.” Boy was he right. The Johnnies continue to string together win after win, improving their winning streak to 5 games. 

The most impressive thing about last night’s game was St. John’s ability to hold onto a lead throughout the entire game.  For anyone watching you were probably expecting a big run from Villanova at some point in the 2nd half, but it never happened. The Johnnies pretty much held a steady 10-point advantage for the entire second half of this one.  They kept hammering, never letting off the gas, and put the nail in the coffin for Jay Wright’s Wildcats. Dare I say…we dominated Villanova?

This win moved us up to 67 in the NET rankings. And it puts us in serious consideration for the NCAA tournament.

Impact Players

Posh Alexander – King of NY

Anyone can tell you this since watching him in High School. There is passion & then there is Posh Alexander’s level of passion.

— Pat Lawless (@PatLawless_) February 4, 2021

This tweet just about sums it up. Last night Posh Alexander scored 16 points, grabbed 4 rebounds, tallied 4 assists, and stole the ball 3 times. Incredible numbers but that wasn’t even the most impressive part of his game. Posh was matched up on Collin Gillespie, a preseason second team All-American point guard for Villanova, and he outplayed him every second of the game. Posh held Gillespie to 4 points while shooting 2-12 from the field and 0-8 from beyond the arc. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Posh Alexander is the catalyst for this team. He is the motor.

Adding a 3-point shot to his game opened so much for him and you have to love the confidence he is playing with right now. He is the man on campus and it seems as if he is beginning to realize that. This team will go as for as he can take them.

Julian Champagnie

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Julian Champagnie🗣 (@jujuchampagnie)

It seems like there is a section about Julian in just about every post game article that we do. He is Mr. Consistent. After failing to score for the entire first half, he completely flipped the script in the second. He ended up with a double-double (14 PTS and 13 REB) and he also blocked 3 shots. He called his performance and “off day” on instagram (see above) and in a post game press conference. I wish my “off day” was a double-double against the third ranked team in the country. Julian hit a couple of vital 3’s down the stretch in this one and was a big help in preserving the lead in the second half.

After the game he did an interview with Andy Katz, host for @MarchMadness.

The Red Storm is 💪@JulianChampagn2 joins @TheAndyKatz after @StJohnsBBall’s BIG upset over No. 3 Villanova! pic.twitter.com/e2xdcJxU5s

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) February 4, 2021

Dylan Addae-Wusu, The Spark We Needed

Dylan Addae-Wusu delivers from deep and @StJohnsBBall is within 3!#SJUBB x #BIGEASThoops pic.twitter.com/1tF76r95tG

— #BIGEASThoops (@BIGEASTMBB) February 4, 2021

This young man has continually grown more and more on St. John’s fans since opening night this season.  He came off the bench and scored 9 points last night including two 3-pointers, grabbed 4 boards and locked down whoever he was assigned to on the defensive end. His role on this team can not be overlooked and I think more people every game are seeing how important he is. He played incredible defense, has no hesitation on the floor, isn’t afraid to let it fly, and attacks the basket hard. Oh and did I mention he is only a freshmen? The kid is an absolute stud and is improving every game. We are a better team when Dylan is on the floor.

Highlight Plays

WELCOME BACK GREG WILLIAMS JR pic.twitter.com/3TlXklRyWI

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) February 4, 2021

And Champagnie is on the board! Fast break points for the win pic.twitter.com/ANVcZBjdiU

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) February 4, 2021

CASH MONEY COLE pic.twitter.com/NglDc2JGmk

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) February 4, 2021

He finally yammed it 😊 pic.twitter.com/ypLlpp3VDa

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) February 4, 2021

Box Score

Starters	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Roberts	3	0	0	0	1	2
Cole	0	0	0	0	0	12
Champagnie	13	0	0	3	2	14
Alexander	4	6	3	0	4	16
Dunn	5	3	1	0	5	5
Bench
Moore	6	1	1	1	1	8
Earlington	3	1	2	2	9	2
Addae-Wusu	4	2	1	1	0	9
McGriff	0	0	0	0	0	0
Williams Jr.	0	1	0	0	0	2

Gambling Results

WE ONLY GIVE LOCKS

BOOOM! 💰 💰 https://t.co/rpRdlM27z0

— Barstool St. John’s (@SJUBarstool) February 4, 2021

Y’all should start tailing the picks ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.