By Zach Gewelb
The St. John’s men’s hoops team opened its season in style, securing a 77-61 victory over New Orleans Nov. 10 at Carnesecca Arena.
Marcus LoVett led the Red Storm with 23 points and added three assists and four steals en route to being named to the season’s first Big East Weekly Honor Roll.
Redshirt junior Marvin Clark II notched 15 points, while Shamorie Ponds registered 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
While head coach Chris Mullin was happy his team got the win, he noted that there was room for improvement moving forward.
“I thought we played okay, but I thought it was a little choppy,” Mullin said. “I thought we had a hard time in the first half… we put them on the line a lot and couldn’t get going. We played a lot better in the second half even though we didn’t shoot as well. The last five or six minutes were a little sloppy again, but for the most part there were some good moments. Obviously, there were some things that we can look at on film and get better at… they hammered us on the boards pretty good. That’s always a concern. From that standpoint, it looked like a first game.”
The Red Storm used a balanced offensive attack to build an early lead, but struggled to pull away from the Privateers. St. John’s went up by seven points at one point, 23-16, but New Orleans responded with a 7-2 run to pull within two.
But the Johnnies finished the first half strong, taking a 37-28 lead into halftime. Clark II paced the offense with 11 of his 15 points coming in the first half.
Mullin was impressed with the junior’s play early on and believes there is room for Clark II to be even better.
“I think he’s going to continue to get better,” Mullin said. “He’s definitely a threat in a lot of different areas, and he’s going to be a great addition for us. I do think as the season moves along that he’ll settle into a more comfortable role and keep producing.”
St. John’s extended its lead to 14 early in the second half, using a stifling defense and timely shooting to go on an 8-0 run.
The Privateers cut the lead down to 10 at 54-44 midway through the second half, but the St. John’s offense heated up again, going on a 9-0 run to build a 19-point lead with less than eight minutes left to play.
The Red Storm played strong down the stretch to clinch the 16-point victory and improve to 1-0 on the season.
As a team, the Red Storm forced the Privateers to turn the ball over 21 times, which turned into 36 easy points. The Johnnies also displayed strong ball movement, with 17 of their 25 field goals coming off an assist.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of St. John’s opening day win was their ability to knock down shots from beyond the arc. As a team, the Johnnies shot 12-of-30 (40 percent) from three-point range, with LoVett converting 5-of-10 attempts from downtown.
“I think it’s one of the personalities of our team,” LoVett said of the team’s ability to knock down three’s. “We have guys who can shoot outside shots, but can also get inside and be versatile. We also have guys who can pick-and-pop, so it’s about what we want to do as a team and what works best for us.”
The Red Storm will try to build on their momentum moving forward and play with more consistency, something that the team has lacked in previous years under Mullin.
“The environment we are trying to create is to approach everything the same way every day, and rely on that training,” Mullin said. “We’re going to continue to build on expectations and improve, but we still have to go out there and do it. It’s one thing to talk and write about it… if you rehearse the right way and create the right daily habits, you will show improvement. I think that’s where we are at right now.”
