Johnnies Get Physical And Drive Past Nebraska For Third Straight Win 79-56

In the lead up to last night’s game against Nebraska, Coach Chris Mullin gave his team a very simple and direct edict. “This is a physical team, typical of the Big 10 we need to match their physicality”.

    Following last night’s79-56 win over the Cornhuskers Coach Mullin may well have been more succinct in comments made over a happy and boisterous celebration in the locker room with two simple words, “mission accomplished”

     On paper, this looked like a potential pitfall for St. John’s since Nebraska’s starting unit that included two post players (including Georgetown transfer Isaac Copeland) and 6’6” junior wing James Palmer Jr. presented size and length that St. John’s had not seen and could not match.

    St. John’s set an aggressive tone against all that size from the outset. On defense they picked up full court and applied pressure from start to finish. And on offense they set that tone by driving to the basket and scoring primarily inside. They made just 5 of 17 three point tries but won the rebounding battle 50-39 and outscored Nebraska 44-16 in the paint.

     Shamorie Ponds once again led St. John’s in scoring with 22 points. And as he had in Tuesday’s win over Central Connecticut Justin Simon had a double double. This time he reached that mark with 13 points and 12 caroms, and seemingly to complete a great defensive stat line he added 3 blocks and 4 steals.

    While all these numbers tell the story of the game pretty thoroughly, the eye test makes the win seem even more impressive. St. John’s won the paint battle despite Nebraska’s big bodies because their guards (particularly Ponds and Simon) got in the paint seemingly at will and made shots consistently over taller defenders. They also limited Nebraska’s effectiveness inside with the combination of help defense inside and pressure on Nebraska’s perimeter players. That perimeter pressure was particularly aggressive because Simon, Ponds and Lovett new they had great rim protection thanks to Tariq Owens, whose 6 blocks represent part of a terrific impact he had on the game despite scoring just 4 points.

       St. John’s led 37-24 at the intermission. A quick 5-0 run by Nebraska included a bench technical on St. John’s was followed by a quick time out. The Red Storm then countered with an 8-2 run of their own that included a triple each from Marcus Lovett and Bashir Ahmed and a tough two-point jumper from Ponds. St. John’s put an exclamation point on the win with a trio of dunks, two by Simon and one by Ahmed, that brought a crowd that had been engaged all night to its’ feet for one final time.

   In what Coach Mullin called their biggest test of the early season they passed with high flying colors.

Other Notes and Observations

1.      Although bookkeeping will call it a bench technical the T was called when Mullin smashed a water bottle following Nebraska’s 5-0 second half start. Give Chris credit for being T’d up by a name brand official since long time NFL ref Gene Steratore got him.

2.      Perhaps lost a bit in the excitement of the win was Bashir Ahmed’s best effort of the year for St. John’s, He finished with 13 points and 5 boards, hit 2-4 treys and did a much better job of letting the game come to him than he had in the earlier games.

Up next for St. John’s is a Monday night contest vs. Division II Molloy College of Long Island at Carnesecca Area. The Red Storm then will play in the AdvoCare Invitational tournament in Orlando Florida. Their first game will be against Oregon State Thanksgiving Day at 2 pm.

Simon Double Doubles His (And St. John's) Pleasure for 2nd Straight Win

     St. John’s combined a balanced scoring effort that featured 4 double figure scorers and a defensive effort that saw them force 21 turnovers and out rebound Central Connecticut for a convincing 80-55 win over the Blue Devils at Carnesecca Arena last night.

      Shamorie Ponds paced the Johnnies with a game high 21 points.  He combined with transfer Justin Simon, whose first career double double included 12 points and 11 rebounds to not only set the pace scoring but provide a needed spark on the glass for a team that will go into most of its games giving up size and strength under the basket.

            “Justin and Shamorie had 11 and 9”, Coach Chris Mullin said of their rebounding effort. “I’ve asked them to get in the paint and help our bigs to help get rebounds that get over their heads when they’re being pushed under the basket.” Their effort helped the Red Storm to 38-29 rebounding advantage, a complete change from their opening night win against New Orleans Friday Night.

            Once again Simon’s early efforts helped jump start St. John’s attack. CCSU took a brief lead 11-9 when they connected on their first 5 shots.  Simon and the Johnnies countered with a 10-0 run with the athletic 6’4” wing flying in for a tip basket and converting on the first of three baskets from beyond the arc. The Blue Devils stayed close thanks to continued good shooting as guards Tyson Batiste and Shakaris Laney connected on triples. But with St. John’s leading 21-17 they went on a 20-2 run over 6 minutes and gave themselves a 41-19 edge. During the run St. John’s got another offensive boost from freshman guard Bryan Trimble, who for the second straight game proved to be a valuable scoring option off the bench.  He scored all 8 of his points in that stretch on two treys and a long 2-point basket.

            “That’s what we ask him to do,” Simon said of Trimble’s shooting. “It’s a great spark off the bench for us.”

     St. John’s took a 43-27 advantage to the intermission.  From there CCSU trimmed the deficit to 11 but each time the Blue Devils shooting got them to within shouting distance St. John’s had an answer. Marcus Lovett scored all of his 15 points in the second half to help keep the Blue Devils at arm’s length.

Other Notes and Observations

1.      CCSU assistant coach Mike Witcoske filled in for absent head coach Donyell Marshall who, along with assistant Anthony Anderson, is suspended pending an investigation of what was termed a “personnel matter”. Ironically Chris Mullin said that he scheduled the game in part for a chance to coach against his former Warriors teammate.

2.      CCSU brought with them three players with local ties.  Jersey City freshman Kashaun Hicks who prepped at MacDuffie (MA) School` contributed 3 points in limited minutes while seniors Shakaris Laney of St. Benedict’s (NJ) Prep and Mustafa Jones of Cardinal Hayes in the Bronx contributed 6 and 13 points respectively.

Juco big man Deion Bute scored 19 points and added 9 rebounds for the Blue Devils.

Up next for St. John’s is a Thursday tilt against Big 10 foe Nebraska in the annual Gavitt games, that annual honor the Big East’s founding Commissioner. Tip off at Carnesecca Arena is at 6:30 pm.

On Opening Night St. John's Shows Some Warts but Wins Easily

     Marcus Lovett led four double figure scorers with 23 points as St. John’s scored a deceptively easy 77-61 win over defending Southland Conference Champion New Orleans at Carnesecca Arena last night.

   Lovett and Michigan State transfer Marvin Clark, who played his first game for St. John’s provided the best most consistent scoring options for the Red Storm. Lovett’s 23 points came on 7-14 shooting from the floor and included 5-10 from beyond the arc. Clark took fewer shots but missed just once in six tries, and made both of his triples in route to a terrific 15-point debut.  Their hot shooting helped offset an effort that their coach Chris Mullin perhaps politely and certainly correctly described as “choppy”.  Which might as well be coaching shorthand for “We got a win but we need to get better.”

   St. John’s trailed only briefly in the game’s opening moments and in fact got out of the gate quickly thanks to some early good work from their other transfer Justin Simon. While many who know his game project him as more of a playmaker who can help facilitate the scoring of Lovett and Shamorie Ponds, he showed off terrific athleticism finishing two dunks and a layup propelling St. John’s to an early lead and getting the crowd involved early. For good measure he did indeed throw in an assist during the rally; a nice pass to Ponds who converted a triple.

     Coach Mark Slessinger’s Privateeers never got rushed despite the early fireworks. In fact, they used soft zone pressure on defense and a patient “flex” offense to stay close in the game and create a tempo that made St. John’s a bit uncomfortable at times. As Coach Mullin explained. “We got a little too concerned with what they were doing instead of just playing.”  Thanks in part to the hesitance that they created UNO trailed by just a basket at 30-28 with three minutes remaining in the first half. St. John’s closed strong with a 7-0 run and extended the spurt to 17-5 in the opening moments of the second half to lead 47-33. While they were never challenged UNO never got away from their tempo and was able to stay within hailing distance of the Red Storm. While some St. John’s fans may be concerned about the sloppy play keep in mind that the team and coach they faced were tournament tested and tough so they simply provided a tougher test than the typical season opener.

Other thoughts and Observations

1.      While Lovett and Clark had strong games shooting the ball St. John’s other two double figure scorers did not. Shamorie Ponds finished with an inefficient 12 points on 5-15 shooting. The rest of his game was however solid as always with 6 boards and 6 assists. Forward Bashir Ahmed finished with 10 points on 3-9 shooting and had 4 turnovers.

2.      While both the players and coach Mullin tried to downplay the issue of depth at the post game presser it was exposed a bit. Freshman reserve Bryan Trimble was ok in limited minutes as a reserve guard. He connected on 1 of 2 triples and had an assist in 10 minutes. Up front junior Kassoum Yakwe and senior Amar Alibegovic struggled badly in limited minutes and were part of the reason why UNO out rebounded St. John’s 42-27. That margin should be alarming since UNO did not have a player with the kind of size and athleticism that one might think would contribute to such a margin. More than any area that’s the one St. John’s must be better if they want to do well once the schedule gets tougher.

3.      Two former PSAL players returned home to play for UNO at Carnesecca Arena. Tyren Harrison, a former all Queens guard at Campus Magnet finished with 6 points while former Lincoln High standout Ezekiel Charles finished with 8.      

Up next for St. John’s is a Tuesday night tilt vs. Coach Donyell Marshall’s Central Connecticut State Blue Devils beginning at 6:30 pm.