St. John’s basketball: Takeaways from disappointing result against Kansas

The St. John’s basketball team saw a disappointing result come its way against No. 8 Kansas

Fans left UBS Arena at Belmont Park disappointed as the No. 8 Kansas Jayhawks (6-1) handed the St. John’s basketball team is second loss of the season but the Johnnies (5-2) can takeaway a handful of things from its outing.

It was another slow start for the Red Storm but St. John’s climbed back into the game on multiple occasions before the Jayhawks pulled away late in the second half for its convincing victory, 95-75.

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The Johnnies saw the return of freshman guard Rafael Pinzon, who missed the last three games with a fractured left ring finger.

Pinzon did not score in eight minutes but another potential injury was thrown at St. John’s as guard Posh Alexander had to exit the game briefly in the second half with what looked to be an aggravation of his right calf injury that forced him to miss a game two weeks ago.

Head coach Mike Anderson said that his starting point guard was dealing with cramps after the game.

Alexander continued to favor his leg and noticeably limp for a large majority of the second half.

St. John’s basketball needed more than heroics of junior star

Julian Champagnie was barley noticeable in the first half, only attempting three shots, but the junior poured in 20 points in the second half as he got St. John’s within three points of Kansas.

Champagnie hit five consecutive 3-pointers at one point during the second half as it looked like the Johnnies would have enough to get by Kansas and make a push for its biggest victory of the season.

However, St. John’s would go cold at the midway point of the second half and see Kansas ballon its lead and never be threatened again.

Despite the loss, there are some key takeaways from the St. John’s side.