By David Okula (@david16okula)
NEW YORK — Throughout the week leading up to St. John’s matchup with No. 7 Texas on Sunday, Rick Pitino emphasized multiple times that he felt his team wasn’t prepared for this kind of test.
It may only be an exhibition, but the Pitino motivation tactic worked like a charm as the Red Storm overpowered the Longhorns from start to finish in an impressive 87-74 victory.
Exactly a week after the Red Storm fought tooth and nail for a quadruple-overtime win against Rutgers, it returned to Madison Square Garden for one final exhibition and looked like acompletely revitalized team from the opening tip. St. John’s led for 39 of 40 minutes against the seventh-ranked team in the nation and held a double-digit lead for the final 22 minutes of the contest.
“I felt that we had to make a quantum leap from the Rutgers game,” Pitino said. “I was on them constantly about certain things, and they made a quantum leap tonight.”
After falling behind by 18 points in the opening half the week prior, the Red Storm flipped the script on Sunday when it made nine of its first ten shots and raced out to a 22-13 lead. Keyshawn Hall, Tounde Yessoufou and Ian Jackson set the tone early for St. John’s, scoring 20 of the team’s first 22 points.
“We wanted to come out and set a standard and be dominant on our home court,” Hall said. “We have to not let the other guys get ahead of us or be more physical than us. That’s the biggest thing, because we match up skill-wise against anyone in the country.”
St. John’s remained red hot on the offensive end and quickly built its lead up to double digits, as Yessoufou drained a three to cap a 7-0 run that gave the Red Storm a 31-17 advantage just over nine minutes into the game. Yessoufou dominated the Longhorns across the entire first half, finishing with 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting, along with three rebounds and two steals.
As soon as it appeared that Texas might get back into the game, cutting the St. John’s lead to six points toward the end of the opening half, the Red Storm found an immediate counterpunch with a 12-0 run to take a 49-31 lead into the locker room. Hall, Yessoufou and Jackson ended up with 41 combined points and shot 14-of-18 in the opening 20 minutes. As a team, St. John’s shot 62 percent from the field and made 15 of 19 two-point attempts.
The Red Storm immediately got into foul trouble in the second half, allowing Texas to get into the double bonus with over 12 minutes remaining in the game, but a key piece off the bench made sure that didn’t become a bigger story. Freshman Theo Edema, who checked in during the opening minutes of the half after Ruben Prey picked up his third foul, went toe-to-toe with standout center Matas Vokietaitis and finished with four offensive rebounds.
“You can tell that (Edema) impacted the game in many different kinds of ways,” Yessoufou said. “He was a dog. I feel like he gave it at all times to Matas, and that’s something that we really needed.”
Despite things not being as crisp as they were in the first half, the Red Storm never saw its lead dip below double digits in the second half and cruised to a statement win in its final preseason contest. Facing a team with some of the most significant size in the country, St. John’s outrebounded the Longhorns, 33-28, and outscored them in the paint, 56-34.
Beyond the big three of Hall, Jackson and Yessoufou, Quinn Ellis once again facilitated the high-powered St. John’s offense to perfection, racking up seven assists without turning the ball over. Jackson also made crucial plays aside from just scoring, finishing with six rebounds, four assists and two steals to go along with his 18 points.
“I thought this was by far (Jackson’s) best overall game,” Pitino said. “He just looked like a complete player in every phase of the game. He was by far the best player on the floor today.”
After expressing plenty of displeasure despite wins in the first two preseason games, Pitino’s tone was much different following Sunday’s performance, saying that the Red Storm could be more prepared for its difficult non-conference schedule than he originally anticipated.
“We’re excited about the improvement we’re making, and now we’re going to get ready for Monmouth,” Pitino said. “With this type of schedule, when you play in Vegas, you play Arizona early, teams that you have to be ready for, I think we can be ready now. I wasn’t sure after the Rutgers game.”
St. John’s will now get a full week of practice before opening up its regular season against Monmouth at Carnesecca Arena on November 2.
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