‘Lethargic’ Johnnies wake up, beat Iona
PHOTO BY GETTY CHRIS Mullin was at a loss. He had used the word “lethargic” to describe his St. John’s Red Storm’s play in the first half of a 69-59 win over Iona in the second game of the Holiday Festival on Sunday at Madison Square Garden, and was asked if he could explain why that was.
“You tell me why those 18-to-21 year olds do things,” Mullin said. “I don’t know why I did it. I don’t know why my kids do it. I don’t know.”
What the school’s one-time legendary player turned coach does know is that Shamorie Ponds scored 16 points to lead five St. John’s players in double-figure scoring. Justin Simon added 15 points. Tariq Owens, Marvin Clark II and Bashir Ahmed each finished with 12 points. Ahmed also grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Red Storm improved to 9-2 overall with a fourth win in its last five games.
“It wasn’t an artistic game,” Mullin said. “It wasn’t a pretty game.”
That is an assessment Iona coach Tim Cluess may agree with after his team dropped to 5-5 with its first loss in five games.
Deyshonee Much led the Gaels with 15. EJ Crawford finished with 12, and Roland Griffin added 11.
“We didn’t have one of our best nights,” Cluess said.
The Red Storm used a 15-4 run in the first 4:35 of the second half to turn a 25-25 tie into a 40-29 advantage. Following a timeout, the Johnnies continued to grow their lead as Marvin Clark II and Simon each converted layups, and Ponds converted two flagrant foul free throws after Roland Martin knocked him to the ground as he attempted a dunk.
Following Ponds’ driving layup with 11:12 left, St John’s led by 20, 52-32.
“You can’t just hand points to a team of that level and hand possessions to a team of that level,” Cluess said. “Especially when they came out playing well to start the second half.
“You can’t allow those things to happen.”
Pivotal to St. John’s cause was its defense. The Red Storm forced seven turnovers and had four shot blocks in the second half, fueling their transition game.
So, too, did Iona’s suboptimal shooting, as the Gaels misfired on 21 of 34 shots in the second half.
“Our defense has been great,” Mullin said. “I thought we were really good.” Tra Holder scored 25 points, Shannon Evans II added 15 and No. 5 Arizona State overcame a dismal start to beat visiting Vanderbilt.
Arizona State was coming off a victory last week over then-No. 2 Kansas that sent the Sun Devils to their highest ranking in 36 years.
The Sun Devils (10-0) looked nothing like the team that won at Allen Fieldhouse in the opening minutes against Vanderbilt (37), falling into a 13-0 hole as they tossed balls out of bounds and directly to the Commodores. Once they got rolling, there was no stopping Bobby Hurley’s team.
Brandon Williams made a 3-pointer to put North Carolina ahead for good with 35 seconds left against Tennessee.
Visiting North Carolina (10-1) capitalized on a 9-0 run in the final minute to win for the fifth straight time and ended Thompson-Boling Arena’s hex on defending national champions.
Tennessee (7-2) had won each of the last five times it had hosted a defending national champion, a string that included victories over Connecticut (in January 2012), Florida (February 2007 and February 2008) and Kentucky (February 1999 and February 2013).
Joel Berry II scored a game-high 21 points for North Carolina. — AP