Penn State Makes Quick Work of St. John's At MSG

              Just as there had been in last Sunday's loss to LIU, there was a brief moment of prosperity for St. John's in this Sunday's loss to Penn State. It came with 9:47 left in the first half and gave St.  John's a 24-17 lead. But where last Sunday's loss unfolded slowly for the Red Storm, Penn State put this one away quickly with a 35-5 half closing spurt that turned their 7 point deficit into a 52-29 half time edge. From there, former Villanova assistant coach Pat Chambers' squad coasted to a 92-76 win over the Johnnies and planted more doubt in the hearts of St. John's fans about the direction of the program.

              Just as it had been last Sunday, St. John's defense was the chief culprit in the loss. In last week's game a handful of breakdowns gave LIU the opening they needed. In this one, the defense collapsed completely and Penn State simply got whatever shot they wanted. It would be easy to recite gruesome defensive numbers here but the eye test for today's game was likely uglier and more informative for those who watched. Mike Watkins Penn State's redshirt freshman center provided for the Nittany Lions everything that St. John's needs and doesn't get from its big men. He finished with 15 points 13 boards and 3 blocks and his point total included several finishing dunks off drive and drop assists from fellow freshman guard Tony Carr.

              What should perhaps worry St. John's fans most is that the Red Storm were beaten by a team whose roster and playing rotation is similar to their own. Three freshmen, Carr, Watkins and rugged forward Lamar Stevens start. And there are just two juniors in their top 7 players. Simply put Penn State's big guards got past St. John's small ones on offense. On defense they held St. John's three top scorers, Shamorie Ponds, Marcus LoVett and Bashir Ahmed to a combined 8-35 shooting clip. Inside the Lions sturdy but mobile Watkins proved more than St. John's tall but thin shot blockers could handle. It's clear that at 5-7 St. John's still has lots of work to do. They face old rival Syracuse on Wednesday before beginning conference play. In the future there will be more roster adjustments but for now every part of the team has to get better. There are, as coach Mullin said, a lot of games left but even for fans that want one of their favorite sons  to succeed it's difficult to remain optimistic in the face of bad losses and this one was as bad as it gets.