College Basketball

Posh Alexander powers St. John’s to comfortable win over Georgetown

This is the Posh Alexander St. John’s has been waiting for. 

The impactful two-way floor general. The defensive menace. The offensive maestro. 

Alexander was at his best Sunday, after some inconsistent performances, and the Johnnies followed him to a mostly stress-free victory. 

Alexander was the best player on the floor on against Georgetown, scoring, distributing and defending at a high level, and an 88-69 victory was the result. In the 32 minutes he was on the court, St. John’s outscored Georgetown by 24 points to get back to .500 in conference play. Alexander had 17 points, seven assists, six rebounds, six steals and, perhaps most importantly, just one turnover. He made all four of his field-goal attempts. He sank nine of 10 free throws. 

“The numbers are kind of staggering,” coach Mike Anderson said. “His energy — he’s like the Energizer Bunny. Everybody just feeds off him. He was everywhere.” 

Posh Alexander passes the ball while in midair.
Posh Alexander passes the ball while in midair. Jason Szenes

He was used more on the ball, a move that paid off for the Johnnies. Alexander, the Big East Freshman of the Year last season, created open shots for his teammates, and high school teammate and close friend Dylan Addae-Wusu was one of the Red Storm players to take advantage, hitting four 3-point shots in five attempts. Early on, the sophomore went into the lane looking to pass, after getting several shots blocked by UConn on Wednesday. In that game, Alexander admitted he was forcing shots. 

“I’ll do whatever for my team to win,” said Alexander, who suffered a minor groin injury with 3:30 left in the win and didn’t return, but said he was fine afterwards. “I was just trying to be a leader out there.” 

Alexander led a balanced attack — four teammates also scored in double figures — and keyed another quality defensive effort, continuing a recent trend that has seen St. John’s improve on that end of the floor. There were some shaky moments, as the Red Storm struggled protecting the defensive glass early, and the backups nearly coughed up a 20-point lead, forcing Anderson to reinsert the starters. But overall it was a strong performance, on the heels of the near-upset win at UConn on Wednesday. 

Julian Champagnie reacts during the second half.
Julian Champagnie reacts during the second half. Jason Szenes

Champagnie scored 25 points to lead St. John’s (10-5, 2-2) and Addae-Wusu added 17 points and seven assists. Mathis had 11, as the Red Storm improved to 8-0 when he scores in double figures, and Aaron Wheeler chipped in 11 to continue his recent awakening. The Red Storm forced 21 turnovers, leading to 25 points, scored 14 points in transition, taking advantage of their opportunities, and nearly doubled up the Hoyas in the paint, 42-24. Kaiden Rice scored 19 for Georgetown (6-8, 0-3), which remained winless in Big East play and has lost four straight games. 

The timing of the matchup was fortuitous. It was a game St. John’s needed, as it enters a difficult stretch that starts Wednesday at Creighton, is followed by back-to-back games with local rival Seton Hall before a trip to Villanova, the class of the league. The Johnnies have made progress lately, playing tough in losses at Providence and UConn. Now they have to start stacking wins. 

“Every game we play, we get better,” Alexander said. “I see us becoming a better all-around team.”