5 Takeaways: Mamu, Seton Hall too much for St. John’s

By Anthony E. Parelli (@reportedbytheAP)

The Prudential Center continues to be a house of horrors for St. John’s.

 

Now 1-15 in its last 16 trips to Newark, the Red Storm had no answer for Seton Hall’s own boogeyman, Sandro Mamukelashvili, who scored a career-high 32 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a 77-68 Pirate win Friday night.

 

St. John’s (5-2, 0-1) never led in the contest, but did a commendable job staying within arm’s length all night. It was able to erase an early 10-point deficit with a 12-2 run and survive a 6-0 Seton Hall run to go up 11 out of halftime, but each time the Red Storm were within striking distance, Mamukelashvili twisted the proverbial dagger a little deeper into their hearts.

 

Late-game drama has been the prevailing theme for St. John’s in the young season, but down five with under a minute left, back-to-back unforced turnovers from Rasheem Dunn and Greg Williams iced the game for the Pirates.

 

Here are my five takeaways from the loss:

 

The secret’s out

St. John’s coach Mike Anderson has been at it a long time. There’s no mystery in what he wants to do: Force turnovers and score in transition. Like presumably the rest of the Big East teams will be, Seton Hall was ready. Its game plan worked early on, with an emphasis on slowing the game down, taking advantage of its size on the offensive side and sitting back on defense – forcing the Johnnies to make jump shots.

 

Predictably, that strategy held true, as St. John’s missed its first nine 3-point attempts, going just 4-of-21 from beyond the arc in the contest. Barring a miraculous turnaround in ability, the Red Storm has to do a better job of getting inside and to the free throw line. Seton Hall was 20-of-28 at the charity stripe, while St. John’s was held to just 6-of-10.

 

Not Dunn yet

Despite the loss, there’s no reason to think St. John’s won’t be competitive in the Big East, especially with the return of Rasheem Dunn. After missing the last five games in the concussion protocol, the senior guard came off the bench Friday, adding a spark with 10 points (all in the second half) and three steals.

 

Small ball

Chasing points in the second half, and unable to contain Mamukelashvili, Anderson opted to go small with Williams, Dunn, Posh Alexander, Julian Champagnie and Marcellus Earlington. 

 

The optics weren’t great against a team boasting the 6-foot-11 Mamukelashvili and the 7-foot-2 Ike Obiagu, but the athleticism provided with that lineup can surely be effective against teams not blessed with the size of Seton Hall.

 

Stars shine bright

Obviously, it will be Mamukelashvili’s night that garners headlines, but make no mistake, there were two superstars on the floor Friday night. Against a bump in competition, Champagnie didn’t miss a beat, scoring 24 points to go with six rebounds and three blocks. There’s plenty of star power in the Big East, but the sophomore is showing he can play with any of them.

 

Who’s it going to be?

Outside of Champagnie however, the question still remains for St. John’s of who is going to step up. Dunn, Williams (12 points) and early-season hero Vince Cole (11 points) had nice nights, but the trio of Isaih Moore, Earlington and Alexander combined for just nine points. More is – and should be — expected from that group should St. John’s want to compete in conference play.

 

Next up

St. John’s will stay on the road and look to get back on track against a rebuilding Georgetown team Sunday at 7 p.m. in Washington, D.C. Whether or not the Red Storm can slow Hoya guard Jahvon Blair (20.2 points per game) will likely decide its fate.