UNCASVILLE, Conn. — LJ Figueroa and Mustapha Heron were on the bench. St. John’s was trailing underdog UMass by eight. The only positive was the Red Storm weren’t going broke at the nearby Mohegan Sun craps tables.
But just when it seemed like they were out of luck, the Johnnies rolled a seven.
Coach Mike Anderson’s lesser-known players refused to lose, rallying St. John’s to a significant early-season victory. From David Caraher’s offensive infusion and freshman Julian Champagnie’s continued two-way impact to Nick Rutherford’s stellar defense and Josh Roberts’ rim-protecting and finishing, the team’s complementary players keyed a come-from-behind 78-63 victory over UMass in the Hall of Fame Tip Off consolation game at Mohegan Sun Arena on Sunday.
“I thought we had some, in your mind it might have been unlikely heroes, but for me I see it every day in practice,” Anderson said. “Guys came off the bench and they gave us a big lift. When [my] teams are good, our bench plays well.”
St. Johns (5-2) trailed by five with 10:54 to go and outscored the Minutemen (5-2) 30-10 the rest of the way without Heron re-entering and Figueroa coming on late. The high-scoring duo combined for a season-low 13 points, but they weren’t needed.
Caraher scored a St. John’s career-high of 17 points, Roberts was again a force in the paint, notching 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks and Champagnie had 12 points and seven rebounds. Rutherford’s stats — four points, six rebounds, two steals and two assists — weren’t overly impressive. But he was very valuable. He controlled tempo, got the ball to teammates in good spots and was a pest defensively.
“I thought he had the biggest impact on the game,” Anderson said.
The game took a turn early in the opening minutes of the second half, Figueroa and Heron picking up their third and fourth fouls, respectively, sending both to the bench. Without their two leading scorers, St. John’s quickly found itself down eight, in a game it led by eight midway through the first half.
Caraher, the Houston Baptist transfer who sat out last season, didn’t let the deficit grow wider, quickly hitting a 3-pointer and adding back-to-back driving baskets to get the Johnnies within two. Shortly, St. John’s was ahead, on the strength of a 13-0 run that began with a Champagnie 3-pointer and Rutherford completed with a free throw. The 6-foot-9 Roberts put the icing on the game, hammering home a two-handed follow slam to push the lead to nine with 2:47 left.
“We have a lot of different guys, like coach said, that can bring a lot of different things to the table,” said Caraher, who shot 6 of 8 from the field and sank three 3-pointers.
They were up to the challenge, after Saturday’s disappointing loss to Arizona State in which St. John’s coughed up a nine-point halftime lead. Anderson wasn’t happy with how his team dealt with adversity in that game. But Sunday was a different story.
“I thought our guys responded the right way,” Anderson said. “We didn’t panic and we trusted one another. We showed some resolve, we really did.
“The biggest lesson I learned was that our guys do have bounce-back ability.”