St. John's Takes First Loss to BYU 74-68

 

     BYU led nearly from wire-to-wire thanks to a balanced attack that included 5 double-figure scorers and 10 made 3-pointers. They held off St. John’s 74-68 and earned a win at the Mohegan Sun bubble in an early evening game yesterday.

    St. John’s led only twice; once after Isaih Moore on their first possession and again at the 12:38 mark of the first half when Julian Champagne connected for 3 of what would be a game-high 25 points.

    The Johnnies trailed 29-23 at the intermission. They quickly pulled to within a point to open the second half when Champagne converted a steal into a “hoop and harm” 3-point play and Posh Alexander fed Moore for a slam.

   “I thought we came out with the right energy, the right mindset,” Coach Anderson said of the 2^nd half spurt. But BYU responded quickly when senior guard Alex Barcello took a pass from center Matt Haarms and connected on a triple. Following a basket by Moore Barcello then assisted on a triple by junior forward Connor Harding. Barcello, who finished with a team-high 20 points for the Cougars on 8-11 shooting did a terrific job helping his team keep St. John’s at arm’s length. Despite a poor shooting effort that included 4-21 from beyond the arc, the Johnnies were able to hang around. The Cougars briefly extended their lead to 10 points with 2:16 left but St. John’s had one more rally in their bones. With a pair of baskets by Champagne and one by Dylan Adde-Wusu, they narrowed the deficit to 4 points with 40 seconds left. But the failure to rebound a missed Cougar free thwarted their last comeback attempt. “They held their poise,” Anderson said noting BYU’s ability to make big shots and key plays like the final unclaimed rebound. His lament about the team’s poor shooting was simply, “I know we’re a better shooting team than that”.

Notes and Observations: In addition to Champagne’s 25 points Moore had 11 and Greg Williams Jr added 10 points. Adde-Wusu was again a bright spot in limited minutes scoring 9 points on 3-5 shooting including 2-3 from beyond the arc. As part of the team’s pandemic adjusted schedule, they will face local rival Stony Brook at Carnesecca Arena on Sunday beginning at 2:30 pm.