Ever since Chris Mullin took over at his alma mater, fans have awaited the Red Storm becoming relevant again, and a bit more than that. Up to this point, there have been teases, including last season, when they had a good non-conference showing at 10-2 and then lost their first 11 Big East games. Could this year be The Year, especially with much of the Big East losing a good deal of production and experience while the Red Storm bring lots of it back and add Mustapha Heron?
This year, the Red Storm began Big East play with a 12-0 mark (they still have one more non-conference game left at Duke on February 2), but then proceeded to lose the opener at the buzzer at Seton Hall. They didn’t beat a lock NCAA Tournament team in non-conference, and the Big East is down a bit this year, so quality wins will be a little harder to come by.
Might some have started having feelings of deja vu? Might some have started wondering if this team will end up being a tease once again? Sports fans do tend to be a cynical bunch, after all.
Maybe Tuesday night will quell that, for now at least. St. John’s did well to rebound from that tough loss with an 89-69 shellacking of a very good Marquette team, pulling away in the second half after leading by eight at the break.
The game featured two Big East Player of the Year candidates, and by extension, All-America candidates in Marquette guard Markus Howard and his Red Storm counterpart Shamorie Ponds. The two juniors have not just scored a lot of points, but they have also done so on big stages. Either one is capable of going for 40 on any given night; while Ponds went for 44 against the Golden Eagles last year, Howard scored 45 points twice in December against ranked teams and topped that almost a year to the day when he had 52 at Providence.
On Tuesday night, Howard didn’t come close to those numbers, and it helped make a world of difference. While Ponds had 26 points on 8-15 shooting, including 4-7 from long range, Howard was 2-15 from the field for just eight points, and foul trouble didn’t help as he played just 26 minutes and finished with four fouls.
Their teammates followed their lead, as St. John’s shot 53.6 percent from the field, including 11-24 from long range, while Marquette shot just under 42 percent from the field and was 6-21 from deep. With the possession battle a wash, those numbers told the story.
Now we’ll see if the Red Storm can keep this going. They are on the road for the next two games, neither one easy: at Georgetown, where they have not won since 2003 (13 straight losses), and at Villanova. Win at least one of those, and maybe those feelings of deja vu will start to subside a little for the time being.
Side Dishes
ACC action was split between a non-conference game where Florida State made a double-digit halftime lead stand up in an 87-76 win over Winthrop, and the conference opener for Notre Dame and host Virginia Tech, where the Hokies pulled away in the second half for an 81-66 win.
The Pac-12 almost took yet another hit, as Washington trailed Cal State Fullerton by eight at the half and by as many as 13, but rallied for an 84-76 win behind 16 points and 12 rebounds from Noah Dickerson.
Tonight’s Menu
The game action picks up a good deal today, especially early conference action.
- In a good non-conference matchup, Harvard heads south to visit North Carolina (7 p.m.)
- A couple of good ones are on tap in the American Athletic Conference as Temple travels to UCF (7 p.m.) and Houston tries to stay undefeated against a Tulsa team that has been a pleasant surprise (8 p.m.)
- A nearly full slate is on tap in the Big 12, with West Virginia hosts Texas Tech (7 p.m.) early on, then Kansas hosts Oklahoma, Iowa State goes to Oklahoma State, and Kansas State hosts Texas, all tipping at 9 p.m.
- In Big East play, Seton Hall travels to Xavier (6:30 p.m.), Butler hosts Georgetown (7 p.m.) and Villanova hosts DePaul (8:30 p.m.)
- In the Big Ten, a key early matchup is Maryland hosting Nebraska (6:30 p.m.), while later on Michigan State hosts Northwestern (8:30 p.m.)
- In the last game of the night, Nevada opens up Mountain West play by hosting Utah State (11 p.m.)
