Figueroa's career night, Heron's slam propel St. John's to 6-0 start in rout over UMES

LJ Figueroa's 25 points and 13 rebounds set tone as St. John's dominated Maryland Eastern Shore to improve to 6-0 on season. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

NEW YORK -- I never knew there'd come a day when I'd be saying to you,

"Don't let this good love slip away now that we know that it's true"

Don't, don't you know the kind of man I am -- no -- said I'd never fall in love again

But it's real, and the feeling comes shining through

- 38 Special, "Caught Up In You"

Don't look now, but St. John's is once again making people fall in love with its basketball program, the flames of romance beginning to glow as bright as they did in the heyday of the then-Redmen.

Okay, maybe it's not 1985-level intense -- and A LOT more would need to happen in order to reach that crescendo -- on the corner of Union and Utopia, but the program's first 6-0 start since the 2009-10 season, the last for one Norm Roberts as head coach, has again given greater rise to the belief that a charmed existence truly is possible in the Red Storm universe.

LJ Figueroa -- whose 25 points and 13 rebounds were career highs at the Division I level -- and Mustapha Heron, who supplemented the junior college newcomer's two-way play with a stout 20-point evening of his own, made sure of that Tuesday evening as the Red Storm handled its business against Maryland Eastern Shore in appropriate fashion, dominating from start to finish in a commanding 85-64 victory at Carnesecca Arena to score the proverbial touchdown in triumphs four days before attempting the de facto extra point in a Saturday soiree against Georgia Tech.

St. John's needed all of seven seconds to put points on the board, doing so on a Heron mid-range jumper, and amassed the first nine before UMES (1-6) cracked the seal on its own ledger. Halfway through the opening stanza, the Red Storm advantage swelled into double digits, where it would remain for the duration of a night where Shamorie Ponds -- the superhuman point guard and hero of each of the past two St. John's efforts, both successful exploits against Cal and VCU, respectively -- saw that his services were not necessarily needed on the scoreboard, therefore asserting his impact on the game in other ways.

"Shamorie, and you guys have watched him, he's a gifted scorer, but he's a great, great passer," Chris Mullin began when asked whether or not he was content with Figueroa pacing his alma mater offensively. "He's one of the very few guys who can influence the game without shooting, just with his pace. I thought he was, really, our best defender tonight, and he's a great passer. Shamorie, he can score anytime he wants, and when the game dictates what's needed, that's what he does."

So as far as the game coming to Figueroa, the junior college transfer initially thought of as not much more than a body with experience who would slide into the rotation as maybe a sixth or seventh piece, yet has taken only six games to develop into the third -- perhaps even second -- option on a potent outfit capable of inflicting serious damage in Big East Conference play?

"I feel like a lot of junior college players are making it, so in a way, it's a lot quicker and stronger," said Figueroa of his transition into the Division I ranks. "But I feel like if you know how to play the game, you can play with anybody, so it wasn't too much of a transition."

Did it take long for him to adjust his game accordingly?

"Let me answer that," Heron playfully commanded after the game. "No. No time at all."

"He's got great instincts," Mullin said of Figueroa. "He really does, especially offensively. He has a nose for the ball, for rebounds, he's got an innate ability to look like he's standing straight up and be athletic, and find space to make his threes, so he's got a really good feel for the offensive game. Offensively, he's just got great instincts. It surprised me a little that he's playing this well, but again -- in the summertime, I saw his offensive instinct, but that doesn't mean it automatically carries over so quickly -- I think as quickly as it has is what surprised me, and he's been very consistent, too."

Leading by 24 at halftime after shooting over 52 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, St. John's played the final half in cruise control, Heron's dunk over UMES' Tyler Jones with just under nine minutes to play serving as the emphatic dagger before Georgia Tech -- an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent much like Duke was the last time St. John's entered a game with a 7-0 start at stake nine years ago -- beckons on a neutral floor in Miami.

Mustapha Heron's highlight-reel dunk electrified Carnesecca Arena crowd during St. John's demolition of Maryland Eastern Shore. (Photo by Nick Bello/The Torch)

"Coach always tells us to set the tone, so we're going to set the tone no matter who we play," Figueroa affirmed. "It's kind of the same mindset, we're going to go out there and play the game. We know what we need to work on, so it's just setting the tone and knowing what we've gotta do."

"I don't think it's hard," Mullin said of the potential challenge Georgia Tech represents before St. John's returns home to face a slew of low-to-mid-major teams in its final tuneups prior to the December 29 Big East opener at Seton Hall. "It's about focus. That's what it's all about. We've lost enough games the last few years. We've been beaten plenty of times by teams -- home, away, neutral site -- so really, it's just about staying in the moment."