Jackson, Johnnies reach their first peak in rout of Bucknell before step up in class with Vegas trip

Ian Jackson looked perhaps his most comfortable to date Thursday, scoring 20 points as St. John’s easily defeated Bucknell. (Photo by St. John’s Athletics)

NEW YORK — Ian Jackson’s tenure at St. John’s has not come without its share of lightning rods and water cooler moments as he plays his sophomore season on the other side of the East River from his Bronx home.

Jackson was initially anointed the Red Storm’s new point guard over the summer, when head coach Rick Pitino turned to the former Cardinal Hayes product to run the Johnnies’ offense following the graduation of Kadary Richmond. Jackson’s ball handling skills, however, did not translate as required, forcing Pitino to abandon his initial plan.

After a shooting slump to begin the season, the North Carolina transfer has come off the bench for the Red Storm in each of the last two games, and appears to have found his niche in that role. Thursday’s 97-49 thrashing of Bucknell took that a step further, as Jackson posted 20 points in his reserve standing, joining Bryce Hopkins in spearheading 14th-ranked St. John’s most complete effort of the young season in its final tuneup before next week’s Players’ Era Festival in Las Vegas.

“I think my confidence is at an all-time high,” Jackson declared. “I’m just doing what I need to do to impact the game on both ends of the floor. I was just out there flowing, man, just going at it.”

“I thought he did a really good job, defensively as well as offensively,” Pitino added. “He didn’t force things, he took what was there. In practice, he’s getting better and better, so I’m really, really pleased with his play.”

Pitino has praised Jackson numerous times for his ability to be a sponge and expand his knowledge of the game, citing his willingness to watch film alongside assistant coaches Steve Masiello and Bob Walsh on a daily basis. Jackson recorded three assists Thursday, augmenting his on-ball exploits, but gained more plaudits for going without a turnover on his ledger, something one of his senior teammates attributed to finding other ways to affect winning.

“Ian’s younger, but he listens and he wants to get better,” Dillon Mitchell remarked. “Right now, he’s trying to figure out other ways to impact the game. Ian takes it every day (one) at a time and lives where his feet are. He just takes it one day at a time and gets better each day.”

“What we’re trying to do is stay away from turnovers that are not caused by us,” Pitino expounded. “If the defense makes a great play — and Dillon Mitchell, defensively, was a demon — you give them credit, but what (Jackson) was doing was turning it over by himself. It wasn’t the defense causing it, and that’s where he’s gotten better.”

St. John’s offense set a program record with its fourth straight 90-point output, marking the first time the Johnnies opened a season with four straight games of 90 or more points, but the Red Storm’s defense was arguably more impressive. Holding Bucknell to 29 percent shooting for the night, Pitino’s pressure conceded only four field goals after halftime, including a stretch where the Bison went over 11 minutes without a made field goal as St. John’s scored 56 points over the final 20 minutes.

“When we come out each day with the right energy, the right focus, I think we’re an extremely good team,” Mitchell said. “For me, it starts on the defensive end. That’s what I try to pride myself on, get the other guys going, get deflections. It’s just all about doing some of the little things, especially on defense.”

“We were very active defensively,” Pitino said, referring to team’s 40-plus deflections as an “unheard of” number. “In the second half, we did a much better job offensively. I think they struggled a little bit with the zone by not getting the right reads, but then they picked it up in the second half and did a great job.”

St. John’s will need to bottle that defensive effort in Las Vegas if it is to win the prestigious Players’ Era Festival, an 18-team tournament with numerous heavyweights of the sport that Pitino called a “Who’s Who of basketball.” The challenges come fast and furious for the Johnnies, beginning on Monday with a ranked Iowa State team before facing Baylor on Tuesday and concluding the three-game event with a third opponent to be determined. For Mitchell, who had spent his entire career prior to St. John’s in the Big 12 at both Texas and Cincinnati, the familiarity with his upcoming foes is something he is eager to share with his teammates.

“I can’t get away from them,” he quipped. “I know what it’s like playing Iowa State and Baylor. They’re two tough teams, so I’ll be able to tell the guys about how they play. They’re very physical and they’re a big team from playing them the past three years.”

Pitino also took to the podium to ask for patience with his team as he integrates four new starters alongside Zuby Ejiofor, reaffirming that last week’s loss to Alabama will do more good than harm as the season continues. The coach is not necessarily looking for a result etched in stone while in Sin City, but hoping to simply use the experience as a teaching moment to accelerate the learning curve.

“When you have four new starters, it takes time,” Pitino reiterated. “I think we’re going to be better and better, but we’re not there yet because we have four new players. We’re a deep team with a great attitude. If we go 3-0, we’re not gonna embrace it, if we go 2-1, we’re not gonna be disappointed. We’re just going to play and get better because we have four new starters. These are 18 great teams and we’ve got one of the tougher teams in the first matchup, so we’re looking forward to that challenge.”