Julian Champagnie Leads St. John's to Upset Over No. 3 Villanova

Sophomore guard Julian Champagnie had 14 points and 13 rebounds as St. John's pulled off a 70-59 upset over No. 3 Villanova.

Posh Alexander scored 16 points and St. John’s smothered No. 3 Villanova, upsetting the ice-cold Wildcats 70-59 on Wednesday night to halt their nine-game winning streak.

Julian Champagnie had 14 points — all in the second half — and a career-high 13 rebounds for the suddenly surging Red Storm (12-7, 6-6 Big East), who have won five straight games and six of seven.

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With active hands all over the court, St. John’s turned up its pressure defense and forced the experienced Wildcats (11-2, 6-1) into 17 turnovers and 32% shooting in an ugly performance. Villanova fell behind 58-41 with about 6:45 left and was held 12 points below its previous season low for its first loss since Nov. 28 to Virginia Tech in overtime.

Villanova went nearly four weeks between games because of coronavirus issues before returning with a Jan. 19 win over Seton Hall.

St. John’s has been a surprising thorn in Villanova’s side recently, with wins over a top-ranked Wildcats team in February 2018 and against the defending national champions in 2019.

The latest victory gave St. John’s its first four-game Big East winning streak since the 2014-15 NCAA Tournament team. Three of those wins came on the road.

Alexander, an energetic freshman guard who leads the Big East in steals, added six assists and four rebounds.

Caleb Daniels scored 16 points for Villanova, and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had 14.

Champagnie, the Big East’s leading scorer at 19.8 points per game coming in, shot 0 for 4 in the first half. Alexander picked up the slack with 10 points and St. John’s went into the locker room with a 30-27 advantage.