St. John's (Almost) Perfect Response Moves Them Past Marquette 89-69

                The sellout crowd at Carnesecca Arena, which was hoping for a great response following St. John’s controversial loss to Seton Hall on Saturday could not have asked for anything more. In fact, save for one late turnover that occurred when Shamorie Ponds stepped on the sideline with the help of some bumping by a Marquette trap, their second half was almost perfect.

     The first half of what would be a convincing 89-69 win for the Johnnies over the Golden Eagles wasn’t too bad either. And Shamorie Ponds, like his team roared back from Saturday’s loss in front of a home crowd that not only sold out the gym, but one that was easily the most engaged of the season. Ponds got St. John’s started early when he sandwiched a three-pointer around two driving baskets that resulted in two “hoop & harm” three-point plays. After the Red Storm took an early 19-14 lead the visitors responded with a 7-0 run and took a 21-19 advantage. The two teams traded baskets for a time after that and St. John’s effort, though strong in those moments was sabotaged, by 9 turnovers. Despite those early miscues St. John’s took a 39-31 lead into the locker room at half time as Marvin Clark, who had 22 points for the game including 4 triples, and Ponds led the way on a 14-6 half closing run.

    Two Mustapha Heron free throws to open the second half gave St. John’s a 10-point lead. After the Johnnies traded baskets with Marquette to maintain that margin, they used a 12-4 spurt to push the lead to 18 that concluded with a corner triple from Heron off a great inside out pass from Clark.

     The nearly total absence of turnovers may have been the key factor in helping St. John’s salt away a big win but it was one of several things that they did well and that stood in direct contrast to the loss on Saturday. They fought the Eagles to a 35-35 standoff on the boards after they were out-rebounded by 15 on Saturday and, perhaps most important, they continued to score against Marquette after failing to register a field goal in the game’s last 5-plus minutes on Saturday. Add in five double figure scorers, including Heron scoring all of his 16 in the second half, holding Marquette to 29% from beyond the arc and the Big East’s leading scorer Markus Howard to a 2-15 shooting night and St. John’s had the formula exactly the kind of win they needed following a game where they did not play well but put themselves in position to win but did not play well on Saturday were it not for what the officials errors. In response to a question about Ponds’ 26-point bounce back performance coach Chris Mullin began by saying simply “

“I’m just glad he played well, I know he didn’t feel good about the game (Saturday).”  could have been speaking about the entire team which now must take the positive of a big win on the road for a two- game swing that begins at Georgetown on Saturday. The road trip will be another test and, hopefully for St. John’s another step in the right direction.