Iona caps homestand with commanding statement win over Saint Louis

Daniss Jenkins throws down breakaway dunk to end first half of Iona’s rout over Saint Louis. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops) 

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — With its most highly touted visiting opponent in over a decade in town Tuesday, Iona and head coach Rick Pitino treated the day’s contest with Saint Louis as a war of sorts, a clash of two of the nation’s top mid-major programs with potential NCAA Tournament resume enhancement at stake.

In many aspects, however, this battle was over before it had even begun.

Surviving an intense opening portion of the first half, Iona seized control midway through the stanza with 10 straight points to build a lead it would not relinquish, and only expanded upon it thereafter, locking down Saint Louis with Pitino’s patented pressure defense and fast-break offense in an 84-62 walloping of the visiting Billikens to sweep a three-game, five-day homestand inside the Hynes Athletics Center.

“We were told to come out and play with confidence, but we needed to stop them,” Daniss Jenkins remarked after scoring 21 points, including a breakaway dunk to close the first half and send the Gaels into the locker room up 13 points. “And that’s what we did. We knew they were going to do that. We had to fight power with power. We all knew we needed to gang rebound.”

“Kill the flower with an ax,” said Walter Clayton, Jr., who added 20 points and a team-best 12 rebounds on a night where Iona put the clamps on a Saint Louis team who entered action Tuesday shooting 47 percent from the field, yet was held under 30 percent for most of the evening before barely creeping over that threshold in a 21-for-68 effort head coach Travis Ford would rather soon forget.

The Gaels (5-2) turned the tide shortly after a media timeout, coming to life on the defensive end while simultaneously wearing down Saint Louis point guard Yuri Collins — the nation’s leading passer with an average of just under 12 assists per game — and limiting him to only four helpers against five turnovers. The patented Pitino strategy of making a team’s secondary and tertiary options beat his was also unsuccessful for Saint Louis, as Iona zeroed in on Gibson Jimerson (3-for-9 on 3-point attempts) and held both Javonte Perkins and Javon Pickett to a combined eight points on 3-of-16 shooting between the pair.  

“We played like this because of the incredible respect we have for Saint Louis,” Pitino said, highlighting the Billikens’ success as well as his relationship with Ford, one of his former players at Kentucky. “They’re a terrific basketball team, and I think we played that way because of all the film we’ve watched on how good they are. When you force a team to shoot 31 percent, 26 from three, you’re playing unbelievable defense with great energy. They all played terrific, and I’m really proud of them. Unexpected, but really proud of them.”

“I’m blown away with how we played tonight. I’ve been shocked before, but I’m blown away by this tonight. Blown away.”

Iona’s front line set the tone in the early portions of the first half, but it didn’t take long for Jenkins to make his presence known. Scoreless for nine minutes, the point guard joined the fray with a 3-pointer to start the aforementioned 10-0 run, and proceeded to light up the scoreboard thereafter in his microwave style, reaching 15 markers with his transition slam to beat the halftime buzzer.

In the second half, it was Clayton’s time to shine after being the Gaels’ hustler on the glass in the first period. With the game already well in hand past the 7-minute mark, the sophomore drained three straight shots within two minutes — including a pair of 3-pointers — to effectively slam the door on any hope of a potential comeback by a Saint Louis team picked in the preseason as the Atlantic 10 Conference runner-up behind Dayton.

“I’ve made a living out of great guards,” Pitino fondly recollected. “From Peyton Siva to Russ Smith (at Louisville), my Kentucky guards, my Providence guards, Billy Donovan and Delray Brooks, and now I’ve got it once again at Iona with Walter Clayton and Daniss Jenkins. It’s what I always go after. I think if you have a great backcourt, you have a shot in every game. And that’s a backcourt, no qualms about it, I don’t mind saying it. They’re a great backcourt.”

Iona will get a minor hiatus after finishing off three games in five days, resurfacing at Barclays Center Sunday against St. Bonaventure before taking on Princeton two days later. After a light November that only saw the Gaels play four games, something Pitino was open about wanting so as to build in time to properly incorporate each facet of his system, the mentor feels the incremental build has been more a boon than a bane to the initial results. 

“I think not playing a lot of games early has really helped us,” he admitted. “We’re not necessarily a young team, but a new team. And to get all our stuff in is taking some time.”