WAKE-UP CALL
Storm still unbeaten despite ugly win over winless foe
The best thing that can be said about the St. John’s victory Wednesday night is that it’s over.
Also that it didn’t end with St. John’s the butt of jokes as the victim of Mount St. Mary’s first victory, or with the Red Storm suffering the kind of killer loss that could haunt them come March. Because otherwise, there was nothing positive about this performance — not the lack of intensity at both ends of the floor, not the porous defensive effort and certainly not the alarming absence of urgency.
St. John’s remained undefeated, holding off winless Mount St. Mary’s, 85-71, to improve to 8-0 for the first time since 1990-91, but this performance continued a season-long trend of underwhelming stretches for the talented Red Storm.
“We’re not playing as good as we should or we could be,” junior guard Justin Simon said. “I think we can play a whole lot better.”
The Johnnies have toyed with fire plenty this season, dancing through flames without getting burned and needing to rally from significant second-half deficits against Bowling Green, VCU, California and Georgia Tech. While St. John’s didn’t trail after halftime on Wednesday, it never put the hammer down against the Mountaineers (0-8).
Mount St. Mary’s, a 25point underdog that is ranked 336th nationally by KenPom.com, entered play off to its worst start since moving to Division I in 1988. But the Emmitsburg, Md., school was within a single possession deep into the second half, putting a scare into the Carnesecca Arena crowd of 4,928.
St. John’s coach Chris Mullin gave the Mountaineers credit for shooting well, though he admitted his defense remains a work in progress. Simon and senior forward Marvin Clark II pinpointed a few problems. Clark said St. John’s needs to mature, meaning not taking an inferior opponent lightly, and Simon said these players are still getting used to one another eight games in.
“We’re still trying to figure each other out,” he said.
The Johnnies finally put the game away on the strength of a 12-4 run, going up 11 with 4:55 left after 3pointers from Mustapha Heron and Simon, each on assists by Shamorie Ponds. LJ Figueroa iced it with another 3, pushing the lead to 13, at 81-68.
The Johnnies’ defense sleepwalked through most of the contest, allowing Mount St. Mary’s to shoot 40 percent from 3-point range. Dee Barnes, a freshman averaging 2.4 points per game, exploded for 26.
“I just thought they got a little too comfortable,” Simon said. “We didn’t pressure the ball that well.”
Clark led St. John’s with a season-high 21 points (14 in the first half ), snapping his recent shooting funk, Heron added 17, while Simon had 14 points and seven assists. Figueroa posted his third doubledouble of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Ponds tallied 11 points on just seven shots, with seven assists and six rebounds.
“One thing I love about this team is I think we’re fighters. Well, I know we’re fighters,” Clark said. “Regardless of what [has] happened in any of these eight games we played, we always find a way to get back and win.
“We definitely have to play better. That starts with the locker room. We just got to mature.”