Three takeaways from St. John’s men’s basketball’s win over UConn

There was plenty of buzz during the pregame regarding expectations before the matchup between the two best teams in the Big East. UConn faithful shared their belief that the performance of Tarris Reed and Silas Demary, a transfer from Georgia, was key to their ability to defeat St. John’s. They also pointed out with some confidence that their reserve guards had been improving, and there was a sense that the Red Storm’s depth at the guard position would be neutralized by their improvement.

UConn and St. John’s weren’t the only two Big East fanbases with representation at the Garden on Friday night. A Georgetown fan was also in attendance at the game. “How could I miss this one?” he stated, “Two equal teams ready to do battle”.

Before the game, how the Huskies’ top-five defense would present a true challenge to St. John’s was also a hot topic amongst fans.

As warmups were ending, the Connecticut team was gathered together in a circle in front of the St. John’s bench, sharing last-minute thoughts. The Johnnies, led by Ejiofor, slowly and quietly walked around the huddled Huskies and then returned to their bench. The Johnnies seemed ready.

First Half

The Johnnies opened with the same starters that had led the team throughout their nine-game win streak: Zuby Ejiofor, Dillon Mitchell, Bryce Hopkins, Oziyah Sellers, and Ian Jackson. The Johnnies won the opening tip-off and fed Ejiofor down low. 6-foot-11 Tarris Reed stepped into Ejiofor and blocked his short shot attempt. Reed had won the opening battle, but there were still 39 more minutes to play.

After holding the Huskies, Hopkins, at the top of the key, found Mitchell underneath for a layup and a 2-0 Red Storm lead. After Reed tied the score with a layup, Ejiofor fed Mitchell underneath for a dunk. Then, after holding the Huskies, Jackson picked up a foul on Reed as he aggressively drove towards the basket. He made the two foul shots, and the Red Storm led 6-2 at the 17:40 mark.

Alex Karaban hit a long three to be followed by a triple by freshman Braylon Mullins, and the Huskies were up 10-8. The Johnnies’ offense found Ejiofor setting up high, pulling Reed away from the basket, but they were unable to take advantage like they did in the first five minutes. Karaban hit another three, and Reed made another layup to push Connecticut ahead by six, 16-10.

Despite the lack of offense, the Johnnies defense continued to pressure UConn’s ballhandlers. Joson Sanon entered the game, and Ejiofor began setting up lower in the post. Ejiofor hit a hook shot, and, with Reed on the bench, he attacked the basket and drew a foul, converting both free throws. The Red Storm defense held strong, and Sanon hit a three from the left wing from a feed by Ejiofor, putting the Johnnies back in front, 17-16.

After an official time out, the Johnnies ran a play from under the Connecticut basket with Sellers cutting to the basket alone and receiving a Mitchell feed on an inbounds play for a dunk and a 19-16 lead.

The Johnnies maintained the lead for four minutes with Reuben Prey coming in to give Ejiofor a break. Although he did not score, he defended with energy and provided valuable respite time for Ejiofor.

A Mullins three would put the Huskies up at the 7:26 mark, 26-25. As the half played out, the Huskies and Johnnies would swap the lead several times. With 15 seconds to play, Demary hit a layup to tie the score. At the half’s end, Sellers missed an open three that rimmed out. It was the fourth time in the half that a jump shot would fizzle out of the basket for the Johnnies.

Halftime

St. John’s fans were feeling good at halftime. Connecticut was outshooting St. John’s, particularly from long distance, and yet the score was still tied. Why? The Huskies had eight turnovers to four for St. John’s, and the attacking nature of the Red Storm had put them on the line more than the Huskies. Lastly, Connecticut was getting into a little bit of foul trouble with several players having two fouls.

The Georgetown fan watching the game turned and stated, “It doesn’t get any better than this”.

Second Half

Connecticut took the lead with a Karaban layup out of the break, then Jackson matched his score sixteen seconds later with a layup of his own. Moments after, Ejiofor stole the ball and dunked it. There was a sense that Ejiofor was going to take charge in the second half. Dylan Darling came into the game and blew by his defender, giving the Red Storm a three-point lead two minutes into the half. That layup was Darling’s first points of the game.

A Solo Ball three tied the score at 45, then the St. John’s starting front court took over. Mitchell drove hard and was fouled, making both free throws. Ejiofor took down an offensive rebound and scored, and the Johnnies were up by five. During the timeout at the 14:52 mark, an announcement was made that Friday’s game was a sellout of 19,812 in attendance. The crowd responded with yet another roar as a fan mentioned, “If only we could make a three-point shot”.

Back on the court, Ejiofor stole an inbound pass by Connecticut and missed a four-foot hook shot, but Darling stole the ball from Demary and fed Sellers ten seconds later, who drove the length of the court and was fouled by Mullins. Sellers made two free throws, and the Red Storm was up by seven. With two turnovers in the last minute, there was a sense that the Johnnies’ tight defense was taking a toll on the Huskies.

After Ball and Mullins each missed jumpers, Hopkins sank a three from the top of the key to give St. John’s a ten-point lead. The cheers from the crowd were deafening.

But the game was far from over. With 6:27 to go, Karaban hit a deep three, halfway to midcourt from the top of the circle, and the Johnnies lead was but two at 62-60. However, Dylan Darling was prepared to respond. Twenty seconds later, he hit a pull-up ten-footer to double the lead. After a Demary three, Darling drove across the paint from left to right and was fouled before he calmly hit two free throws at the line.

With 4:26 to play, Ejiofor drew the fourth foul on Reed, who had to briefly leave the game. He hit one of two for a 67-65 lead. It was anybody’s game. Mitchell scored after Ejiofor took an offensive rebound and fed him, leading to a layup and a four-point lead. A Karaban layup cut it to two, then Darling hit a three from the top of the key to give the Johnnies a five-point lead with three minutes to play.

Forty seconds later, Darling fed Ejiofor for a six-foot hook to build that lead to seven points. One more UConn three from Mullins cut the lead to four, but that was the closest the Huskies would get, and the Red Storm came away with a hard-fought 81-72 win behind Ejiofor’s 21 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists.

Takeaway #1: Defense won the game for St. John’s

The Johnnies’ defense won the game, particularly in the second half. The Johnnies press may not have created a lot of turnovers, but it did tire out UConn’s ball handlers. Equally important was the fact that it caused the Huskies to begin their offense with less time on the thirty-second clock. In the second half, Connecticut was often taking shots with around five seconds on the shot clock. The impact was two-fold: more work was being done to simply get a shot off, and, secondly, shots were being taken under the pressure of time running out.

Takeaway #2: St. John’s can beat great opponents without hitting threes

The Red Storm has been hitting 35.8% of its three-point attempts for the season, for the 81st-best three-point percentage in the country. The fact that the Johnnies shot below their season average against UConn (26%) suggests that an improved performance in future games can be expected.

Connecticut came into the game with a highly ranked defense, and it may be that the Huskies simply defended the Johnnies three-point shooters significantly better than the average opponent. If this appears to be the case, a careful study of the game’s film may open the door for a new approach to free Johnnie shooters.

It is noted that many three-point shots by the team, particularly those by Sellers, were described by Coach Pitino as “in-and-out”. The team seems to be improving every day, per the coach, so it is reasonable to expect an improvement in three-point shooting.

Takeaway #3: The Red Storm has the right mindset of focusing on one game at a time

When the Press asked Zuby Ejiofor and Dillon Mitchell about their second meeting against UConn in less than three weeks, the frontcourt duo said the same thing. “Right now, we are concerned about playing Xavier” on Monday, February 9th.

This response is reflective of the entire team’s attitude: one game at a time. Each opponent will bring different skills and different game plans. The team seems to have the right attitude and, as Coach Pitino said at the after-game press conference, the team has talented, supportive coaches who provide the players with useful guidance as to their upcoming opponents. The players often refer to the value of not only their head coach but also of the assistant coaches. The attitude should be and appears to be not only to get better from each game and each practice, but also to learn something new from each game and practice.

Outlook

This team is mostly an experienced team that is unselfish, taking the example of their captain, Zuby Ejiofor. It is not about individual performances, but it is about team performance. So we fans should do what we advise the team to do: focus on one game at a time.

The next game is Xavier, which gave the Johnnies a challenge the last time they met in Cincinnati. After falling behind by double digits, the team made adjustments and went ahead in the second half. They seem determined to put into practice what they learned in the last matchup. It is the correct approach, and they appear ready to do so.

The players talk about the energy they receive from a supportive crowd. That is the role we fans must play. Go Johnnies go.

Three takeaways from St. John’s men’s basketball’s win over UConn

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