St. John's heads to the Bahamas to face ranked teams
St. John's Red Storm forward Zuby Ejiofor dives on a loose ball against against Wagner. Credit: Brad Penner
St. John’s is in a good place by most accounts. Four games into the season, they are undefeated and ranked No. 22 nationally. But the St. John's men's basketball team has a chance to improve the view considerably this week, and that’s not just about a trip to the Bahamas.
The Red Storm play three games in four days beginning with Thursday’s 7 p.m. matchup against No. 13 Baylor (3-1) in a Baha Mar Hoops Championship semifinal. On Friday, they will face either 11th-ranked Tennessee or Virginia. And before they return to New York, there is a standalone game against Georgia on Sunday.
“Baylor and Tennessee are two teams that a lot people project going to the Final Four,” Rick Pitino said Tuesday before the team departed. “We knew that and we felt it was imperative to get off 4-0 because we know what we’re getting with this tournament and the game against Georgia. We could face three outstanding teams that all could participate in the NCAA Tournament.”
St. John’s isn’t lacking for confidence. Asked Tuesday about facing the Baylor team whose lone loss is to No. 3 Gonzaga, center/forward Zuby Ejiofor replied, “We all believe we can beat Baylor. We all believe we can win the tournament.”
Pitino saw his team take its level of play up on Sunday. After wins over lesser opponents Fordham, Quinnipiac and Wagner, the Red Storm handled a tough New Mexico team at the Garden. But he understands that the Red Storm will need to play much better than that to beat the Bears.
“We analyzed it and in the first three games, Fordham graded out to a C-plus [and] the other two games graded out to a C-minus,” Pitino said. “The New Mexico game rated out B-minus [and] we're pleased with a B-minus at that point.
“When you play teams that are projected potentially to go to a Final Four, you really have to play well — you have to bring an ‘A’ game to beat them. And I'm seeing at this early part of the season, if we can bring an ‘A’ game.”
One good omen can be found in the play of Ejiofor against New Mexico on Sunday. There were high expectations for the 6-9 junior, who moved into the starting lineup and was elected by teammates as a co-captain with grad student Kadary Richmond. He had only three rebounds in the first two games. He came off the bench against Wagner and in the second half began to look like the player they had hoped for. He followed that up with 13 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots against New Mexico.
“[Things] didn't really go as planned in how I wanted to start the season, but it's how you react to adversity,” Ejiofor said. “I went through a little bit of adversity and I was able to pick myself up . . . in the second half [against] Wagner and then come up big [against] New Mexico.”
“I was proud of myself,” he added. “I'm playing hard, but to be able to play hard and also see results — that’s what I'm looking for.”
Pitino identified two areas where the Storm can really improve their grades: shrinking their average of 13.5 turnovers and defending the three-point line, where the Bears shoot 36%.
“Coach Pitino says the three-point line is always the killer,” Ejiofor said. “[Defending] the three-point line is going to be really huge for us because almost everybody on Baylor can really knock it down.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.