St. John's Gets a Warning Shot in Exhibition Win

       Yes, St.John’s 71-54 exhibition win over Division II Maryville University was “only an exhibition”, and yes, they were missing a key guy in transfer Mustapha Heron, who missed the game because of a concussion. The visitors from St. Louis played great and by doing so not only gave coach Chris Mullin a game that should get his team’s attention, but gave all involved in what looks to be a promising season for St. John’s a glimpse will face in the immediate future.

    For teams from the other major conferences such as Rutgers, Cal and Georgia Tech, the upcoming games represent an opportunity to get a win against a Big East foe that will look good on a potential tournament resume. For teams like Bowling Green as well as local rivals St. Francis & Wagner, a game against St. John’s is a chance to score a confidence boosting upset that could help them in conference play once the calendar turns to 2019.

  By playing as hard smart and effectively as they did Maryville gave St, John’s a blueprint of how games like the ones coming up can turn into unexpected losses. They moved the ball so crisply that they made twice as many threes (12) while taking just four more three-point shots than St. John’s and while they were out-rebounded and out-scored in the paint by substantial numbers, watching the game it seemed as if they took advantage of every defensive lapse with either a three or a well timed cut, pass or drive to the basket. All of those are key ingredients to the upset recipe in college basketball and if the team wants to put itself in the best position for a tournament bid they must not allow the opposition to use that upset formula.

    St. John’s led by just 4 at the intermission and had the Saints take a brief lead on a triple by Chaz Glotta before regaining their footing for a win. The Saints success from beyond the arc demonstrated perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the Red Storm’s effort. On all but a handful of occasions, St. John’s was late closing to opposing shooters and often without a hand up to contest. Only juco newcomer LJ Figueroa, who drew praise from coach Mullin for his energy, and Shamorie Ponds, who filled the stat sheet despite a rough shooting night seemed to play with the competitive energy that will be needed against better competition and especially when conference play begins

   St.  John’s will learn a bit more about themselves on Tuesday when they face Patriot League foe Loyola (MD) . For them, Maryville should be remembered for firing a kind of warning shot that should remind them simply that their energy and effort have to be better for them to have success.