St. John’s drops close finish to Iowa State in Players Era opener

Rick Pitino looks on as St. John’s takes on Iowa State in first round of Players Era Festival. (Photo by St. John’s Athletics)

By Jason Dimaio (@Jaydimaio)

LAS VEGAS — Another year, more unfortunate heartbreak for St. John’s in multi-team events.

Almost one year to the day of the Red Storm’s double-overtime loss to Baylor in the Baha Mar Hoops Championship, the 14th-ranked Johnnies took on No. 16 Iowa State Monday. After a physical back-and-forth battle, it was the Cyclones who got the last laugh, defeating St. John’s in the opening round of the Players Era Festival, 83-82.

St. John’s (3-2) was slow to break from the gate Monday, quickly finding itself in a 23-13 hole amid a flurry of timely threes and a defense that needed to adjust in the opening minutes. The effort on that side of the ball was lackluster in that initial stretch of the game, as Iowa State guards Tamin Lipsey and Milan Momcilovic terrorized the Red Storm.

Out of a Rick Pitino timeout, St. John’s sparked a 19-8 run on the strength of its defense. The Johnnies took their first lead of the day, at 32-31, late in the opening stanza behind Bryce Hopkins, who scored 10 points and ripped down five rebounds in the first half. The Red Storm carried that momentum into the locker room, holding a 45-43 cushion at the intermission.

The start of the second half was a different story, however. St. John’s defense lapsed again, with Ian Jackson struggling to keep the Cyclone guards in front of him. The breakdowns forced the help defense to leave the perimeter open, allowing Momcilovic to wreak further havoc. He led the long-distance barrage for Iowa State, connecting on five of his nine attempts from deep and scoring a game-high 23 points.

Both teams seesawed down the stretch, with the lead changing hands nine times over the course of the night. The drama reached a crescendo as Oziyah Sellers erupted for consecutive threes, giving St. John’s an 80-79 advantage with 2:06 remaining in regulation. Iowa State would go down the court on the ensuing possession to hit what would turn out to be the game-winning basket, a runner over Zuby Ejiofor to retake the lead, 81-80.

St. John’s had three more chances to respond. A designed set Pitino said he wanted gave Sellers an open mid-range jumper, but it did not fall. The Stanford transfer had a second attempt to play the hero, but his driving layup in traffic did not come close. Forced to foul, the Johnnies sent Iowa State to the free throw line, where Joshua Jefferson sank both shots to put the Cyclones up three.

Down 83-80 and still owning a timeout with nine seconds remaining, Pitino opted to let the game play out to its conclusion. The ensuing play resulted in a deep step-back three from Ejiofor for the tie, which missed the mark.

Pitino was unfazed by the offensive performances of Jackson and Joson Sanon against the Iowa State guards, placing greater emphasis on rebounding the basketball after the Cyclones defeated St. John’s on the glass and racked up 22 second-chance points.

“Both Joson and Ian give great effort,” he said. “I give the other team credit for playing good defense on them, but they need to do better rebounding.”

The Red Storm has a 24-hour turnaround before its next opportunity, which comes Tuesday against an undefeated Baylor team. The Bears defeated Creighton in their opening-round matchup at Michelob Ultra Arena.