Trayce Jackson-Davis finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and Indiana held off a late St. John’s comeback to beat the Red Storm 76-74 Wednesday in Bloomington, Ind.
After Xavier Johnson made 1-of-2 free throws with 8.4 seconds left to put Indiana up 76-74, St. John’s had a chance to win the game. But forward Julian Champagnie was unable to get a turnaround 22-footer to fall over a double team as time expired.
Champagnie led all scorers with 32 points. Stef Smith added 16 points for the Red Storm (2-1) and Posh Alexander had 10 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Race Thompson added 15 points for Indiana (3-0), including a running shot in the lane that put the Hoosiers up 75-72 with under 30 seconds remaining.
St. John’s rallied back from a 12-point halftime deficit to tie the score twice in the second half but was unable to take the lead. After Champagnie tied the score at 65 with a 3-pointer with 4:25 left, Indiana answered with a hook shot from Jackson-Davis and a transition basket from Thompson to go up 69-65 with 3:39 remaining.
Indiana freshman Tamar Bates scored 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting, helping Indiana build a 39-27 halftime lead. The Hoosiers scored 10 first-half points off nine St. John’s turnovers.
After a Champagnie 3-pointer cut the Indiana lead to 20-14, the Hoosiers answered with a 7-0 run. St. John’s starting guard Montez Mathis was ejected during the run on a Flagrant 2 call after he raked Indiana’s Trey Galloway across the face on a transition layup. Miller Kopp made both technical free throws, and then Bates hit a jumper to put Indiana up 27-14.
Indiana took its biggest lead of the half, 39-25, on an inside basket by Jackson-Davis with a minute left in the half. Champagnie answered for St. John’s with a driving layup to create a 12-point halftime deficit.
–Field Level Media
