St. John's wakes up to beat Wagner, but there are tougher opponents ahead
St. John's head coach Rick Pitino directs his team against Wagner during the second half at Carnesecca Arena on Wednesday, Nov 13, 2024. Credit: Brad Penner
The time has finally come for everyone to see exactly what St. John’s has got this season.
The 22nd-ranked Red Storm finished off the last of the appetizers of the season with a 66-45 non-conference win over Wagner on Wednesday night before 4,751 at Carnesecca Arena. Now they move on to the first course, a stretch of four games against high major competition in eight days beginning with Sunday’s Garden matchup against Richard Pitino-coached New Mexico, a 2024 NCAA Tournament team that last week beat then-No. 22 UCLA.
“We did our job against these three teams,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said, referring to winning games against Fordham, Quinnipiac and the Seahawks. “Now it’s really going to get tough.”
St. John’s (3-0) didn’t exactly look like a team that was ready to take a step up in competition for the first 30 minutes against the Seahawks (1-1). The defense — always Pitino’s top priority — was solid throughout. But with the ball, the Storm were sloppy, missed a slew of free throws and didn’t shoot especially well allowing Wagner to hang in with them. Their lead was just 39-37 with 10 minutes to play.
And that’s when St. John’s finally started to look like a team that’s ready for the big stage. Kadary Richmond blocked a shot, took the ball in transition and found Deivon Smith for a three-pointer to ignite an 18-0 run. St. John’s was 6-for-6 shooting in the run with additional three-pointers from Brady Dunlap, Zuby Ejiofor and Aaron Scott. Richmond had four of his seven assists.
Even so, the chances that the Red Storm will be able to play 30 minutes where it shoots 39% from the floor, commits 13 turnovers and misses 12 free throws and still beat the Lobos are long indeed. They will have to be the team that everyone saw in the final 10 minutes for an entire game against New Mexico and in the following week when they play in the Bahamas against No. 12 Baylor, No. 11 Tennessee or Viriginia and Georgia.
Those are four games that will begin to shape how the NCAA Tournament selection committee will evaluate them in March.
And so far, St. John’s only has looked its best in responding to adversity, as it did trailing Quinnipiac over the weekend and against Wagner.
“I’m going to be very transparent and very honest: I don’t know how good we are,” Pitino said. “Have we taken care of business in five games — two exhibitions and these three [including Fordham]? Yes, we have. But we’re [haven’t] seen competition like we’re facing in the next four or five games and we’re going to have to play every possession like we’re down by one.
“We’re going to find out,” he added. “I’m excited. I like my team a lot, but it’s the unknown right now. We’re going to see.”
RJ Luis Jr. finished with 13 points, Aaron Scott had 11 points and Smith, Dunlap and Simeon Wilcher all added nine points apiece for St. John’s, which was 11-for-14 shooting in the last 10 minutes to finish at 50% for the game. The Storm defense held Wagner to 29% shooting and forced 16 turnovers that resulted in 20 fast-break points and Pitino declared them “ready defensively” for the challenging stretch ahead.
“We stayed tough and pulled together,” Richmond said. “I’d call this a steppingstone in the right direction and now we’ve just got to keep getting better.”
Ejiofor averaged only 6.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in the first two games, a concerning development. Pitino replaced him with 7-2 Southern Cal transfer Vince Iwuchukwu against Wagner. And even though Ejiofor didn’t play well during the first half, he stuck with him for almost all of the second half and he began to respond. The 6-9 junior finished with eight points, six rebounds and two blocks.
“My last couple games has not met the expectations of myself and the coaching staff,” Ejiofor said. “I haven’t been playing with a lot of energy and we’re still trying to figure that out.”
Pitino suggested it could be pressure he’s feeling because, he said, “He’s never been a mainstay player at Kansas or here and he’s got to get used to that . . . [But] he played well tonight.”
And that may be the biggest development of the night for the Storm. Ejiofor is expected to start every game. If he is coming around, St. John’s may actually be closer to ready for the challenges ahead than they looked in the first 30 minutes on Wednesday.
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.