St. John's starts Big East tournament with much-needed win over DePaul

Chris Mullin and St. John's salvaged roller-coaster season, defeating DePaul in Big East tournament to put speculation surrounding NCAA Tournament chances to rest. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Ray Floriani (@rfloriani)

NEW YORK -- For St. John's, Wednesday's turn of events were really not how it was supposed to play out. 

The Red Storm players and coaches, in theory, should have spent Wednesday night scouting before opening Big East tournament play Thursday. St. John’s, the critics said, was talented enough to be in the upper echelon of the Big East. 

Supposed to be, but not to be. Instead, the Red Storm found itself as the tournament's No. 7 seed, competing in Wednesday's opening round at Madison Square Garden against a tenth-seeded DePaul team that had swept both regular season affairs with St. John's. If the Johnnies were fortunate enough to get by, Marquette -- who was swept by St. John's in the regular season -- would await in Thursday's quarterfinal round. Such is life this season on the corner of Union and Utopia.

The Red Storm lived to fight another day Wednesday, finally exacting revenge on DePaul, defeating the Blue Demons by the final score of 82-74 and leading for all but 90 seconds of a contest that took nearly 35 minutes to settle.

"You can only take care of what's in front of you," head coach Chris Mullin said, not looking past DePaul and ahead at Marquette, focusing solely on the task at hand Wednesday. "We made some adjustments, but to me -- just having the season end and coming to the Big East tournament -- my biggest message to them is to come back mentally and physically fresh. I thought they did a good job tonight of doing that."

Many times, coaches' feelings about getting off to a good start are echoed. For St. John’s (21-11), a team on a three-game losing streak and having suffered setbacks in four of its last five, that good start -- which came in the form of a game-opening 13-4 run -- was vital. The initial minutes provided a potpourri of success for St. John’s: A Shamorie Ponds three-pointer, turnovers leading to transition baskets, Justin Simon hitting LJ Figueroa with a thread-the-needle pass for a bucket.

"My teammates, they give me great confidence," said Ponds, who was one of three Red Storm players with 18 points on the night and one of five with a double-digit total on the scoreboard. "With them backing me up, there's no pressure on me. They come on and play hard every night." 

Ponds' assessment held true even after a Max Strus four-point play midway through the first half drew DePaul even with the Red Storm at 18-all, capping off a 14-5 run. Strus, however, was limited to just 14 points only ten days after annihilating St. John's for 43 in the Blue Demons' victory in Chicago on March 3.

"I was running off the line, just trying to make him uncomfortable," Justin Simon said of his approach to bottling up Strus, proving his selection as the Big East's Defensive Player of the Year to be a well-deserved honor. "I thought it was a great team effort."

"He's had some great ones," Mullin echoed of Simon's defensive escapades, which have included shutting down Big East Player of the Year Markus Howard of Marquette, against whom he will square off a third time Thursday. "This is right up there, because as you play against guys two or three times, it gets tougher on both sides, offensively and defensively. But he's a typical lockdown defender."

St. John's went into halftime with a 39-35 lead, but beyond the offense, the most significant move Mullin made was deciding to double-team Femi Olujobi. The Blue Demons' 6-foot-9 senior forward was effective inside the first half. With the prospect of two defenders, Olujobi found it difficult to get the ball, and was being noticeably frustrated. As that negative emotion grew, so did the Red Storm lead.  

It seemed rather fitting that as St. John’s NCAA Tournament hopes hung in the balance, the ball would be entrusted to Ponds, its first team all-Big East player. DePaul was making a run, and down eight with just under nine minutes to play. Ponds connected on a three, then stripped his opponent of the ball, forcing it out of bounds. On the ensuing possession, he did what he has done on so many occasions and so well, break down the defender and get in the lane. This time, Ponds found a cutting Simon, who had a wide-open layup he converted to put the Red Storm ahead by 17. The Blue Demons cut into the final margin in the waning minutes with late three-pointers, but St.John’s was in command and well on its way to the quarterfinals, surviving and advancing.

"It's definitely important for us," Ponds said of Wednesday's victory. "I felt like, with this group, we could do something special. We're definitely looking forward to each and every game. We packed for four days, so we're looking forward to it."

With 21 victories, including a sweep of Marquette and split with Villanova, the ticket to the field of 68 may have been punched as Wednesday night in the Big Apple soon turned to Thursday morning. Mullin, his players, and St. John’s faithful can rest a lot easier  about their NCAA aspirations if they take down second-seed Marquette a third time to reach the semifinals, a place the Red Storm has not been since it cut down the nets at the World's Most Famous Arena in 2000.

"It shows we can beat them," Ponds said of Marquette, citing the regular season sweep. "We've just got to have the same game plan. It's definitely an extra challenge, but I feel like it's more confidence. I feel like those guys are going to bring their all, so I feel like we can't lay down."