Ponds Takes Control and Helps St. John's Get Tough Win

              Perhaps, as St. John's forward Bashir Ahmed suggested, St. John's 76-70 win over Cal-State Northridge (CSUN) did not happen "the way we wanted to". But there was certainly a lot for Chris Mullin and his young charges to be happy about. After all they earned the win without their best offensive player  Marcus LoVett, who missed the game with a sprained ankle. And they won it despite the fact that the second half saw them cool down  considerably from a hot shooting start.

              St. John's had made 7 of 10 tries from beyond the arc in the first half but coach Reggie Theus, yes that's the guy from UNLV the Bulls and the NBC Saturday show "Hang Time", and his team found offense near the basket. The ball did not move freely for either side but the visitors from California played tough and trailed by just four (40-36) at the half.

 As Chris Mullin said after the game, "Not having him (LoVett) affects everything, starting lineup, rotations and guys roles, I thought overall our guys did a good job stepping up".

              Offensively the task of stepping up was left to Shamorie Ponds, who normally teams with LoVett in what has been a potent St. John's backcourt and he responded about as well as anyone could have expected. His 25 points came on 10-18 shooting from the floor and 3-7 from beyond the arc. Combine 5 assists with one turnover and you have a great performance from any point guard, especially a freshman playing in his ninth college game.

 "He's calm, he has good instincts and he trusts them", Mullin said of Ponds. And those instincts helped him in a different role brought about by LoVett's absence. They not only helped him get is team off to a good start but allowed him to help his team make an adjustment when their three point shooting went cold  (3-11) in the second stanza. He was able to get key baskets driving the ball to the basket. Along with Bashir Ahmed whose  13 points included 8 free throws, they got just enough offense to, as their coach suggested "grind this one out". It may not have been the artistic success that Friday's win was but for a team still learning how to win it likely felt every bit as good.

Notes and Observations St. John's had two other double figure scorers. Malik Ellison had 10 points and tied Ponds with a team high 5 assists. His playmaking was vital to Ponds' ability to be an aggressive scorer, trust his instincts and not think too much in his new role.  Federico Mussini's 12 points came on 4 of 7 three point tries and included three straight in the span of 51 seconds in the first half. His explosion helped the Johnnies regain their footing after CSUN had pulled ahead briefly in the first half. Mullin said that LoVett would likely  get an MRI tomorrow and was uncertain about his status for  the game vs Fordham on Thursday. Fordham's own point guard, reigning A-10 rookie of the year Joe Chartouny  missed Saturday's loss to Harvard and his status for Thursday is uncertain as well.