Llewellyn solid in debut, but Princeton falls to St. John’s at MSG
NEW YORK >> Mitch Henderson didn’t know how many minutes he was going to get out of Jaelin Llewellyn in his debut, but after 36 mostly good ones, Princeton is at full strength for the first time this season.
That it came at Madison Square Garden in front of a crowd of over 10,000 and on national television, gives the Tigers something to build on despite an 89-74 setback against St. John’s here on Sunday afternoon.
“I love my team,” Henderson said. “I think we can be really good, but time is ticking and we have to start getting good right now.”
Princeton (4-4) is now in the midst of a stretch of difficult games that takes it to Atlantic City to face Iona next Saturday and then to Cameron Indoor Stadium against Duke and then out west for a date at Arizona State.
So Llewellyn’s debut following a preseason foot injury came at the perfect time. The freshman point guard, rated a four-star recruit, scored 17 points and dished out four assists.
“I wouldn’t say it was butterflies,” Llewellyn said. “I’ve been waiting for this moment the whole season, so I’ve been really excited to get out. It was a really cool experience for me.” And for 36 minutes? “I played a lot in high school, so the whole time I was in rehab, I was just trying to get my wind back,” Llewellyn said. “I still got to get better, but I thought it was alright.”
Outside of 20 total turnovers, which led to 21 St. John’s points, the Tigers acquitted themselves well. They rallied from an 18-point second-half deficit to pull within 80-74 on a Jose Morales 3-pointer a the 3:41 mark before the Red Storm (9-0) scored the game’s final nine points.
Henderson, of course, bemoaned the turnovers since 13 of which were committed by Devin Cannady (five), Llewellyn (four) and Morales (four).
“I think the moments got a little too big for us at times,” Henderson said. “We were so careless with the ball. We got to value the ball a lot more. Twenty turnovers in essentially a road game for us is so difficult. … We got to look that right in the face and get a lot better. We talk all the time about taking care of the ball and getting back in transition and we did not do either one of those things very well.”
Shamorie Ponds paced five Red Storm players in double figures with 26 points. The dynamic junior guard was 11-for-18 from the field and had 18 of those points in the second half.
When St. John’s got rolling, it was hard for a Princeton squad that didn’t match up athletically or physically to slow it down.
“We’re giving up a lot of easy baskets,” said Henderson, whose team has conceded 90.5 points per game its last two contests. “When you turn the ball over, (St. John’s) is a really talented team and super confident. Same thing with St. Joe’s. They just relax and they just start playing. It starts on the offensive end, you can’t give people easy baskets.”
Devin Cannady scored 18 points, but only had three in the second half. The senior connected on five first-half 3s, but was held to 1-for-6 in the second half.
“When you think of the best arenas to play in, MSG is on top of the list,” Cannady said. “It definitely had that kind of feeling, but in warm ups the ball was going in pretty well, so I was trying to tell guys to try and find shots early and they did go in. Unfortunately, they didn’t in the second half.”
Richmond Aririguzoh matched a career-best 14 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Morales scored 13.
Henderson rode the threeguard lineup of Cannady, Llewellyn and Morales to get back in the game.
“Jaelin, as you can see, he can shoot as well. Jose is a dog on offense and defense. He likes to get to the rim and drive it in,” Cannady said. “Then for me, I like to run
around the court and find open shots. It’s nice having two guys who can be primary ball-handlers, but on the defensive end as well, pick up guys full court.”