Johnnies face big test vs. UCF
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — As Tariq Owens sat down to eat breakfast Saturday morning, a projection screen was showing highlights of Tacko Fall, college basketball’s tallest player at 7-foot-6.
Owens made sure to watch as much as possible in between bites. After all, St. John’s 6-foot-11 big man will see the most of Fall on Sunday when the Red Storm meet Central Florida in the AdvoCare Invitational thirdplace game at HP Field House. The redshirt junior smiled as he was asked about Fall; he’s excited about the test that awaits.
“I love challenges,” Owens said. “I never played against anybody who’s 7-6. I played against a few 7-footers. 7-6 is crazy. It’s going to be a great learning experience, a great game to play in to play against somebody like that.
“I definitely want to get a couple of blocks.”
Owens will try to use his quickness against the plodding Fall to make up for the seven inches he’s giving up in height, hoping to beat him down the court, and keep him off the offensive glass. It’s obviously easier said then done.
“I know he’s going to be in the paint clogging everything up,” Owens said. “[You’re] almost not going to be able to see the rim with him standing in there.”
Fall, a native of Senegal, is averaging 11.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks. And he isn’t the only quality big man the Knights will throw at undersized St. John’s (5-1). They have four players who are 6-foot-9 or bigger, but will be without lead guard B.J. Taylor (foot injury), increasing the importance of the Red Storm’s backcourt to create turnovers.
Central Florida (4-1) was forced into 27 turnovers by West Virginia in a blowout defeat on Friday, and is averaging 17.7 turnovers per game this year in four contests without Taylor. St. John’s has employed fullcourt pressure often this season, and has forced 19.3 turnovers per game, leading to transition opportunities it thrives on.
“It’s going to very key, starting with the guards,” sophomore guard Marcus LoVett said. “We have to pressure up. Defense is going to be mandatory.”
Starting fast will be important, after the Johnnies dug themselves big deficits in their first two games of the tournament. They rallied to beat Oregon State on Thursday after trailing by 10, and did erase a 16-point deficit on Friday against Missouri before losing an eight-point advantage in defeat. But they seemed to run out of gas, after expending so much energy to overcome a dismal opening 10 minutes.
“It’s very important to come out early and set that tone,” Owens said. “That’s what Coach [Chris Mullin] tells us all the time, come out and set the tone, come out and be aggressive. Don’t let them knock us back; we have to be the ones who knock them back.”