By Laura Amato
It wasn’t a very good week for St. John’s defense.
The Red Storm continued to struggle on the road in Big East play, falling 93-71 to Marquette Tuesday night. It was the second-straight road loss for the squad, which dropped a lopsided 110-86 match up at No. 24 Butler Feb. 15 as well.
Marquette shot a blistering 57 percent from the floor in the Big East tilt, while the Golden Eagles shot 12-for-24 from behind the arc.
St. John’s (12-16, 6-9) defense struggled from the get-go, finding it difficult to slow down the Golden Eagles’ (17-10, 8-7) outside-shooting contingent in the first half. Marquette connected on nine of its first 12 attempts from behind the arc in the opening 20 minutes of play and took a 15-point cushion into the half.
The Red Storm opened the second half on a 7-2 run, making it a 10-point game on a Malik Ellison lay up, but that was as close as it would get.
Marquette answered St. John’s run with one of its own, scoring eight straight points to effectively put the Red Storm away. The Golden Eagles led by as many as 24 points before the final buzzer.
The defense struggled, but the Red Storm did put three players in double digits, led by forward Bashir Ahmed, who racked up a team-high 21 points. Marcus LoVett and Shamorie Ponds also continued their strong freshman campaign in the back court, combining for 31 points and 11 assists.
St. John’s returns to Madison Square Garden Feb. 25, looking to bounce back against Georgetown – who took down the Red Storm 83-55 earlier this season – before the Big East Tournament gets underway next month.
