Bryce Hopkins scored 26 points as St. John’s rebounded from heartbreaking loss to Iowa State with comfortable win over Baylor. (Photo by St. John’s Athletics)
By Jason Dimaio (@Jaydimaio)
LAS VEGAS — St. John’s win over Baylor on Tuesday might not match the staying power that a win over Alabama or Iowa State would have, but it is still a victory the Red Storm can feel good about.
Just 24 hours after the 14th-ranked Johnnies came up one point short against the Cyclones in the opening round of the Players Era Festival, St. John’s came out intent on erasing the bitter aftertaste, cruising to a 96-81 victory over the previously undefeated Bears. The win is the first of the season for the Red Storm against a power conference opponent.
“I think what I enjoyed most after the loss last night was the devastation in the eyes of our players,” head coach Rick Pitino remarked as the Johnnies not only avenged the sting of Monday’s loss, but also exacted a measure of revenge against Baylor. The Bears defeated St. John’s in the opening round of the Baha Mar Hoops Championship last year, stealing a double-overtime thriller on Jeremy Roach’s three-pointer at the buzzer after Zuby Ejiofor missed a pair of free throws that would have iced the outcome. “A class team really, really focuses in, doesn’t hang their heads, and brings it. These guys did.”
“We didn’t want to feel how we felt last night, today,” Bryce Hopkins added. “We wanted to do something about it. We woke up this morning and had a good walkthrough, prepared for Baylor, and I felt we did a good job today of sticking to the game plan for the most part.”
Led by Hopkins, who poured in a team-high 26 points, St. John’s (4-2) also shot 50 percent from three-point range. Oziyah Sellers was instrumental in the barrage of deep balls, knocking down a career-best five triples after being encouraged by Pitino to pull the trigger more frequently.
“The conversations have been pretty simple,” Sellers said. “They’re just saying, ‘shoot the ball,’ even in times where I might have felt like I wasn’t open. Having that confidence in me, it just makes me want to go out there and play free, so when I get the opportunity, I’ll definitely take it.”
“I feel like the confidence comes from the work that we put in every day,” Hopkins echoed. “It’s just a consistency of the work we put in every day. As the season goes on, whatever the defense is playing me, I’m just gonna be that much more confident taking that shot.”
Through six games, the 95.3 points per game the Red Storm has averaged marks the best offensive start in program history. The Johnnies have scored 93 or more points in five of their six contests, the one outlier being Monday’s loss to Iowa State.
“I thought they did a lot of great things, offensively especially,” Pitino assessed. “We still have a long way to go rebounding the basketball, but it was a good bounceback game. I think this team has potential to be a good team as we grow, but they’re new to each other. We see a lot of mistakes by being new to each other.”
Tuesday’s game started with St. John’s firing on all cylinders, jumping out to a 21-8 lead. However, struggles on the backboards opened the door for Baylor to cut into the Red Storm advantage, ultimately pulling as close as five points. The Johnnies managed to weather the storm, taking a nine-point lead into halftime despite a minus-12 showing on the offensive glass in the opening stanza, where Baylor secured 15 offensive rebounds to just three for St. John’s. For the game, Baylor was plus-14 on the boards, outrebounding the Red Storm, 48-34.
Out of the intermission, the Johnnies used an 8-0 run, fueled by the hot hand of Sellers, extending their lead to 17 points and not looking back from there. Baylor would try to mount a rally, pulling within 11 later in the second half, but it proved to be in vain as the Bears could not close the gap any further.
“I just think offensively, we’ve got a big edge,” Pitino said. “These guys all play like guards, they handle the ball so well. We’ve been a high-assist team every practice, every game. We’ve just gotta work on our rebounding. It’s just something that we’re capable of doing a better job, and I know they’re hungry.”
After a subpar performance against Iowa State, where he struggled to stay on the court due to foul trouble, Dylan Darling atoned for that effort. The point guard registered a plus-22 efficiency rating, trailing only Hopkins and Sellers. Although Darling only scored two points, he was a key cog in navigating the offense for the Red Storm.
Like everyone else in the Players Era tournament, St. John’s next opponent remains uncertain. But given its margin of victory Tuesday, the Red Storm will almost assuredly have another opportunity to secure a win over a ranked opponent that will enhance its resume. Pitino acknowledged not knowing in advance who his team would face adds a degree of difficulty to Wednesday’s matchup, but is confident in his players’ ability to adjust and attack accordingly.
“Regardless of who we play, I think these guys witnessed today what great preparation is all about,” he proudly remarked. “They were really dialed in on our walkthrough, about every little thing that we need to do.”
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