St. John’s basketball gets revenge over Georgetown, first Big East win

St. John’s basketball team picked up its first Big East victory of the season while getting revenge on Georgetown.

One week ago it was the most crushing loss of the season for the St. John’s basketball team.

The Johnnies (6-4, 1-3 Big East) had Georgetown (3-4, 1-2 Big East) right where they wanted them on multiple occasions and could not get the job done to leave the nation’s capital with a victory.

The two teams met again seven days later as the setting changed from McDonough Arena to Carnesecca Area, where the two rivals had never played since the 1980-81 season.

Again, St. John’s had the Hoyas right where they wanted them.

They built up a 16-point lead in the first half, only to see Georgetown slowly chip away and pull within two early in the second half.

But this was a different Red Storm team than a week ago.

Greg Williams Jr. drilled a corner 3-pointer to push the lead back to five and the Johnnies never looked back, ballooning their lead to as many as 20, eventually winning 94-83.

“I thought we grew up today,” head coach Mike Anderson said.

His junior guard paced the team and set a new career-high with 26 points, three rebounds, one assist, and two blocks.

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“We responded to adversity,” Williams Jr. said following the game, not only in respect to the Hoyas’ run in the second half, but its winless start to conference play, “it was a step in the right direction.”

St. John’s tied its season high with ten 3-pointers in the first half, shooting 10-of-19 in the opening frame from deep, and finishing with a 44.8-percent clip.

Including Williams Jr., five St. John’s players were able to reach double-figures including Vince Cole, who was reinserted into the starting lineup with 17 points, five rebounds, and three assists.

Arnaldo Toro also made his first career start with the Red Storm, seeing 18 minutes and finishing with one point, five rebounds, and three assists.

Julian Champagnie fell one rebound shy of his fourth double-double of the season with 20 points and nine rebounds.

St. John’s basketball still has to improve defensively

Despite its hot night shooting from the field, the Red Storm had their issues defensively in the first half, allowing Georgetown to score 41 points in the opening 20 minutes.

Things got somewhat better for the Johnnies in the second half, despite allowing 42 points, as the defense got lackadaisical in the given the score and situation late in the game.

“Giving up 41 points was too much, but I thought out defense got more consistent,” Anderson said.

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However, the aspect of the game that is head coach Mike Anderson’s calling card still needs work as a brutal Big East stretch approaches in January and February.

With its postponed game against Villanova, St. John’s is scheduled to be off though Christmas and the New Year with its next matchup coming on January 2 in Queens against DePaul, who has yet to play a game this season.