After DePaul rout, St. John’s sets sights on statement game friday

St. John’s opened their Big East season by performing a stranglehold on DePaul at Carnesecca Arena, 89-61. The Rick Pitino second-year “bump” appears to be in takeoff mode. The Red Storm improved to 9-2 for the season and looks to Providence tonight as a bellwether game.

“I was shocked,” said Pitino after the DePaul win. The second year coach started three guards and held leading scorer RJ Luis for the second unit. “We were preparing as if it was the last game of the season and we had to win it because of the way they shoot the ball. Our defense was absolutely brilliant.”

How brilliant? The Red Storm held DePaul’s starters to 23 points — RJ Luis nearly matched that himself with 19. The Johnnies ran DePaul off the three-point line seemingly onto Union Turnpike. Their defensive switches were performed near-flawlessly, mechanized yet flowing.

Center Zuby Ejiofor’s energy on defense was infectious — while his footwork and body control seems to improve with each game.

Pitino’s crew recorded a season-high 14 steals and forced 20 turnovers.

“Tuesday night you saw defensive commitment for the full 40,” said Ryan Patrick, a Red Storm influencer and ex-coach. “They have length and athleticism, and so much of their defensive outcomes will be effort based as opposed to scheme based.”

DePaul (8-3, 0-2), a perennial basement dweller in the Big East, seems much improved under Chris Holtmann, a former Big East coach of the year at Butler. DePaul entered the game ranked second in the nation averaging 12.8 three-pointers per contest. They shot the lights out last week in a 91-72 win against Wichita State, hitting 17 three-pointers.

But Holtmann’s Blue Demons were not up to the task against a hornet’s nest of a defense. The Blue Demons got very few good looks, making only 6 of 20 from beyond the arc. They went into halftime down by eleven and when they entered the final 20 minutes against the best second half team in the league, there was a Roman Coliseum vibe in the air. The Red Storm began the half with a 17-4 run.

DePaul has now lost 34 regular season games in the conference.

On offense, St. John’s spaced the floor, moved without the ball and shared it (19 assists). The Johnnies shot 55.2 (37-67 FG) from the field and recorded 80 of their 89 points inside the 3-point arc.

At 6’ 6”, guard Kadary Richmond took advantage of his size, scoring 18 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. “I think Richmond is still a work in progress,” said Patrick. “Kadary is going to be encouraged to play in the post more and hopefully they’ll get some actions dedicated to that.”

For St. John’s, their only weaknesses were three-pointers (3-10) and free throw shooting (12-21), a trend that can bite them against tougher Big East competition.

Game stats

Points in the Paint: St. John’s 56, DePaul 24

Fastbreak Points: St. John’s 18, DePaul 2

Rebounds: St. John’s 41, DePaul 29

This Friday — St. John’s first test

This Friday at Providence — always a tough game on the road — stands as the season’s first real test. “Providence this Friday is kind of a must win if 14-6 [in the Big East] is the goal,” said Patrick. “And 14-6 might be necessary for a good seed line come Selection Sunday.”

That task will not be easier without Brady Dunlap. The sophomore forward will undergo surgery on his hand that will sideline him for as much as six weeks. Freshman four-star standout Jaiden Glover expects to see more minutes, and could be an opportunity for the Brooklyn native.

On the other side, although a perfect 6-0 at home, Providence (7-5, 1-0) has dropped two of its last three games and five of the last seven. A recent loss to mid-major St. Bonaventure stung.

Team standout Bryce Hopkins’ health has been questionable, and without him their chances diminish considerably. The 6-foot-7 wing has averaged 17.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists in three starts this season, all of which the Friars won.

Overall, the Big East has more competitive equity this year. Georgetown’s win on the road at a [struggling] Syracuse last week signaled its emergence from the bottom of the conference. Its dismantling of Creighton by 24 points this week reinforced that narrative.

At 9-2 (1-0), St. John’s is poised to occupy the top tier of the Big East conference, with UConn, Marquette, and possibly Xavier, which looked like a tournament team against UConn in Storrs in an overtime loss to UConn.

“I think we have potential to be an outstanding team,” Pitino said, adding that the DePaul game was the best performance he’s seen from his team since the 25-point win against Virginia.

Referring to his team’s only losses, to Baylor and Georgia by a combined four points, Pitino added: “We’re probably four points away from being ranked in the top five in the nation.”

He wasn’t kidding, and he’s probably right — because, as even casual Red Storm fans are beginning to realize, Rick usually is.

We’ll know a lot more on Friday night.

St. John’s Notes:

St. John’s split its series with the Friars last season. Both games were decided by one possession. At MSG on Jan. 10, the Red Storm held on for a 75-73 victory as Joel Soriano and Daniss Jenkins scored 16 points apiece. On Feb. 13, the Friars survived a late push by St. John’s to hold on for a 75-72 win at Amica Mutual Pavilion. RJ Luis averaged 14.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game last season against the Friars.

St. John’s earned five wins on the road last season, including a 79-73 victory over West Virginia in the Big 12-BIG EAST Battle on Dec. 1 and the team’s first win inside Finneran Pavilion in nearly three decades with an 81-71 win over Villanova on Jan. 6.

Co-captain Zuby Ejiofor leads D1 with 4.5 off. rebounds per game

Simeon Wilcher has shot 56.3 percent from the field and 92.3 percent at the line

Deivon Smith ranks fifth in the BIG EAST averaging 1.8 steals per game