LJ Figueroa had 19 points and Mustapaha Heron added 17 as St. John's held off visiting Saint Peter's 79-69 on Tuesday night in Queens, N.Y.

Freshman forward Julian Champagnie added 14 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double as the Red Storm (7-2) improved to 7-0 when scoring at least 70 points.

St. John's turned a 14-point halftime lead into as much as a 25-point advantage but then slacked off down the stretch, allowing Saint Peter's (1-4) to make a game of it. The Peacocks used a 19-2 run to pull within 75-69 with 1:05 to go, but freshman forward Fousseyni Drame then missed two free throws with 37 seconds left. Figueroa went 4 of 4 from the line in the final 29 seconds.

Saint Peter's shot 37.1 percent, the seventh St. John's foe to shoot below 40 percent. The Red Storm are 7-0 in those games and overall are holding foes to 37.8 percent shooting.

St. John's shot 47.5 percent and assisted on 24 of 29 field goals, with nine different Red Storm players notching at least one assist.

St. John's built a 20-4 lead in the first half on the strength of four 3-pointers and six Saint Peter's turnovers. The Peacocks went nearly five minutes without scoring before freshman guard Aaron Estrada stripped Red Storm junior guard Rasheem Dunn and went for a layup with 12:09 left in the first half.

Estrada led Saint Peter's with 18 points, making 8 of 12 field goals.

The Red Storm led by as many as 22 points in the first half, but Saint Peter's used a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 35-23 with 1:30 left. The Peacocks failed get it within single digits, though, and trailed by 14 at halftime.

St. John's moved to 18-0 all-time against the Peacocks, who haven't beaten a power-conference team since winning at Rutgers in 2014.

After playing its first seven home games at on-campus Carnesecca Arena, St. John's will play West Virginia at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Saint Peter's is off until hosting Fairleigh Dickinson on Dec. 11.

--Field Level Media