Sham' wow!
The crowd at sold-out Carnesecca Arena got loud every time Shamorie Ponds touched the ball. The building was exploding before his feathery jump shots even swished through the hoop, the St. John’s fans were so certain they would fall.
The roar grew louder and louder, reaching a crescendo when Ponds scored all the Red Storm’s points in a 13-6 run midway through the second half — capped by back-to-back 3-pointers.
One of their own, the slick sophomore southpaw from Brooklyn, was on fire, and the exuberant St. John’s faithful couldn’t get enough of it. And he wouldn’t stop, not until he had set a career-high with 44 points, and the suddenly resurgent Red Storm were on their way to their third victory in a row, this time 86-78 over NCAA Tournament hopeful Marquette.
“It’s indescribable,” Ponds said. “It was unbelievable out there.”
In a week, the St. John’s program has gone from dead in the water to arguably the hottest team in the Big East, with wins over No. 1 Villanova, ninth-ranked Duke (which was No. 4 when it lost to the Johnnies) and now the Golden Eagles.
Ponds has led the way, putting 33 on Duke, 26 on Villanova and now 44, on 16of-23 shooting, against Marquette. He set an on-campus scoring record, breaking the mark set by Malik Sealy (43 points) on Nov. 24, 1990, against Central Connecticut. Ponds also tied Marcus Hatten’s output against Rutgers on March 6, 2003, for the fourth-highest scoring output in St. John’s history. Just two players in the 110-year history of the program have scored more points in a single game: Harry Boykoff (45 and 54) and Bob Zawoluk (65).
“All the great players that came through this university, for my name to be up there, it’s a blessing,” Ponds said. “Dream come true.”
Not even St. John’s coach Chris Mullin, a two-time All-American and threetime Big East Player of the Year is his day, can remember playing that well. “Not even close,” he said. “That son of a gun is a pro,” Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski said. “He is playing at a level equal or above any guard in the country.”
Mullin took umbrage with the opposing coach talking about one of his players’ future, saying if it was the NBA he would be fined. But Mullin didn’t disagree with the sentiment about Ponds. “He’ll be a pro,” he said. Ponds was also pivotal in limiting Big East leading scorer Markus Howard to 18 points, four below his season average.
Justin Simon added 16 points, 11 rebounds and six assists and Marvin Clark II had nine points and nine rebounds for St. John’s (13-13, 2-11), which shot a seasonbest 60 percent from the field and made 16-of-21 shots in the second half.
Five quick points from Tariq Owens to start the second half gave the Red Storm a seven-point lead they did no relinquish. The potent Golden Eagles (14-11, 5-8) got close on several occasions, but Ponds always delivered a response. He scored those 13 consecutive St. John’s points to push the lead to 10, 71-61, with 7:38 left. And he put the game away a few minutes later, hitting another 3-pointer, and reaching his career-high with a layup in the lane.
“I get caught up watching [him] instead of going for offensive rebounds or getting back on defense,” Simon said. “I’m a fan, too. I love giving him the ball and seeing him go to work.”
Most impressively, St. John’s prevailed despite not playing its best game. The Red Storm made 15 turnovers, eight from Ponds, and missed 10 of 28 free-throw attempt. Owens sat much of the second half with foul trouble. But that’s how far this team has come in a week, able to win without being at its best against a quality opponent.
“I think they’re as hot of a team in the United States with the way they’re playing,” Wojciechowski said.
“It’s about time,” Simon said. “We said all we need is one, and it’s just going to string along to the other games. We’ve lost every way we could, and we just learned from our mistakes.”