St. John’s basketball: Red Storm pound Saint Peter’s in 90-71 win

The St. John’s Red Storm couldn’t ask for a better start to the season.

After a blowout win in their season opener, the Johnnies took the floor to face Saint Peter’s on Saturday. The Red Storm sent Shaheen Holloway’s team back to Jersey City with a loss, as they stomped the Peacocks out, 90-71.

The Red Storm held an advantage for the entire game. They led wire-to-wire in a pretty remarkably good showing. They shot over 50 percent from the field, over 40 percent from 3, and over 80 percent from the free throw line.

Julian Champagnie led the way with 22 points scored on the night. He also shot an even 50 percent from 3, going 5-for-10 from deep. It was the third time in his St. John’s career that he’s made five 3-pointers in a game.

Off the bench, Aaron Wheeler, Dylan Addae-Wusu, and Tareq Coburn added to the 3-point show. Coburn made three, WHeeler made two, and Addae-Wusu made one 3-pointer to give them 13 on the night. Posh Alexander, who starred in the win over Mississippi Valley State, added two of his own. Alexander finished with 12 points and also recorded nine assists.

The nine assists for Posh matched a career-high mark that he set last year against Xavier back on February 16.

Alexander, Champagnie, Coburn, and Wheeler all finished in double figures. COburn and Wheeler gave the Red Storm 17 and 11 points respectively off the bench. A

The Big East might want to pay attention to the Red Storm. It’s obviously very early, but the Johnnies look really damn good. They’ve displayed an early ability to shoot effectively and efficiently from the field. They, right now, lead the country in Effective FG% (71.0) and have the highest mark on 2-pointers (70 percent). In addition, they are 10th in the nation early on in 3-point percentage (48.1 percent).

Again, very early. But these are signs that the Red Storm and their fans can take solace in. The Johnnies haven’t had a team who can shoot like this in a really long time. They’ve only finished in the Top 100 in 3-point percentage once in the KenPom era: 2018-19, when they were 100th. If the Red Storm can keep these shooting displays up, they could turn into a very dangerous team come conference season.