Record Setters Help St. John's bounce back vs USF

              St. John's got two things they surely needed from last night's  81-57 win over San Francisco. First and foremost, as D'angelo Harrison said, "Obviously our key was to bounce back",  referring to a Sunday's tough loss to Syracuse. "We wanted to beat the number 2 team in the country.  After the game we flushed it and took care of business in this game."

              Their efforts to put that game aside began in the locker room, where coach Lavin eschewed his usual pregame speech and called on the players themselves to talk about the keys to the game. "It (the idea to do that) came to me at about  7pm I've done it as a way to encourage leadership and have the players take ownership of their team."

              One of the things the players emphasized and executed was what Lavin called "the key take away from the game". And that was the ability to start quickly which had eluded them this season.

              The Johnnies moved quickly to a double digit lead, took a 43-31 advantage to the intermission and quickly bumped that margin to 20 thanks to a spurt triggered by Rysheed Jordan whose play improves every time St. John's hits the court.  He stuffed the  stat sheet once again with 10 points 4 assists and a steal. JaKarr Sampson, the team's steadiest offensive player had 14 points on 7-11 shooting. But it was a pair of record setters who ruled the day for the Johnnies. Harrison made 2-3 three point baskets to tie former JFK High star Willie Shaw's career record for three point makes. He finished with a game high 18 points.

              Then there's Chris Obekpa, who obliterated Walter Berry's single season record for blocked shot s last year as a freshman. His 4 blocks last night put him just 3 shy of former  Molloy standout Robert Werdan's career mark.

              In a game the Johnnies needed as much for their confidence as they did to improve their record, they put together several key elements; they started quickly, forced 21 turnovers, saw players like Jordan and Orlando Sanchez continue to find their stride, and had two players on the verge of school records continue to play solid basketball as they approached them. With just two games before the conference season begins, they seem to be in a very good place.