Julian Champagnie finally emerged from his scoring slump in his last outing.
That is good news for St. John’s (12-9, 4-6 Big East) as it visits Butler (11-11, 4-7) on Saturday afternoon in Indianapolis.
Champagnie had averaged 7.8 points and shot 13-for-47 (27.7 percent) in a four-game span before scoring 27 points in a 90-77 victory at Georgetown on Thursday. He made 6 of 12 shots from 3-point range against the Hoyas.
“I was very frustrated,” Champagnie said of his slump. “Shots weren’t falling. I couldn’t really help my team on that end of the floor. I felt like I was letting them down. That was the biggest thing.”
Said St. John’s coach Mike Anderson: “We sat down and visited, and I told him he just needs to be the great player he is. I thought he came out being one of the best players, not only in our conference, but in the country. He had that mindset.”
Champagnie will need to continue that type of play in a game in which points could be at a premium. The Red Storm sit atop the conference at 80.0 points scored per game, with Butler (62.4) at the bottom.
The Bulldogs lost their cool against No. 21 Xavier on Wednesday, as veterans Aaron Thompson and Chuck Harris both were assessed second-half technical fouls. The Musketeers capitalized by going 4 of 4 from the foul line and Butler fell 68-66.
“We’ve just got to do a better job of controlling our behavior,” Butler coach LaVall Jordan said. “There’s nobody that should get you out of your poise. You choose to do that.”
Said Jordan: “It’s not the reason we lost, but it contributes. … We’ve got to get better. We’ve got to grow. We’ve got to be more poised.”
Jordan was hopeful moving forward after the Bulldogs rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit to get within four in the final minute. A 3-pointer by Butler’s Jayden Taylor as time expired accounted for the final margin.
“We’ve been playing better, more connected,” Jordan said. “We’ve found a group that’s got good chemistry on both ends. There’s no quit in the group.”
–Field Level Media
