God'sgift Achiuwa benched

St. John's is counting on God'sgift Achiuwa to provide leadership this season because he has two years of junior college experience and All-American ability. But he wasn't in the starting lineup after being benched for a minor violation of team rules and didn't play well in the Red Storm's 81-72 loss to Arizona Thursday night in the 2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden.

Achiuwa scored four points and had only two rebounds while playing 29 minutes, and he was removed at times when the offense bogged down. Coach Steve Lavin admitted it was hard to match the Wildcats' 24-6 run to finish the game after leading scorer Nurideen Lindsey fouled out with 4:02 left in a game where Achiuwa "never hit his stride."

Achiuwa's transgression was showing up late for the bus to the game. It was minor, but a young team has to be disciplined in its approach. Downplaying the incident with a smile, Lavin said, "It's over. 'Gift is an excellent student, and he's an exemplary representative of the program. We're not down on him."

At the same time, Achiuwa's performance in his first game against big-time opposition could be cause for concern. He's listed as 6-8 and is certainly a physical presence in the post, but Arizona had more big bodies and Achiuwa is going to find himself going against taller opponents constantly in Big East play.

"It could have been Arizona's strength," Lavin said when asked if there was a connection between the benching and Achiuwa's off night. "Their physicality wore us down."

Without significant scoring from Achiuwa in the middle, St. John's had to rely on its perimeter players for everything except for a couple dunks by Moe Harkless. Lavin said the Red Storm has to get Achiuwa more touches on the low blocks, where he is an effective scorer.

"We talked about it after the game," Lavin said. "We didn't make a concerted effort to let the big dog eat. That makes us better to play through the post."

Achiuwa has another chance to show what he can do against a big, physical Texas A&M team in the consolation game at 4:30 Friday afternoon at the Garden.