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Where was this all season?
Where was this defense? Where was this intensity? Where was this cohesion?
For 40 minutes Monday night, St. John’s finally looked like the team its fans have been waiting for. The team that was supposed to make the NCAA Tournament and was picked to finish fourth in the Big East.
It defended at a high level. It shared the ball incredibly well. It attacked at both ends of the floor. For one night, the Johnnies looked the part in a stunning, wire-to-wire 84-63 beatdown of Seton Hall at tiny Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, N.J., landing by far their best victory of the season.
This was supposed to be a celebratory night for the Pirates, the first league game on campus since 1985. The gym was rowdy and full of 1,400 students. But they left early, as St. John’s piled it on in the unexpected result.
Coach Mike Anderson brought Posh Alexander off the bench and the sophomore point guard responded with a complete effort of 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Ten St. John’s players scored. Aaron Wheeler (17 points, 10 rebounds) was a two-way force, continuing his renaissance. Given an opportunity, Tareq Coburn hit three 3-pointers. Julian Champagnie struggled offensively, making 2 of 10 shots, but it didn’t matter. He contributed in other ways, with eight rebounds, five assists and four blocks.
But this wasn’t about any one individual. This was about St. John’s team-wide tenacity. Its stifling defense. Its attacking mentality. It owned the paint (42-18), out-rebounded bigger Seton Hall by six, and had 20 assists on 32 made field goals.
Seton Hall only trailed by eight close to midway through the second half when the game turned. Montez Mathis scored five straight points to push the lead to 12 and kick-start a 20-4 run that included points from seven different Johnnies.
Seton Hall’s first possession of the game produced a turnover in the backcourt, setting the tone for St. John’s strong first half. The Johnnies pressed for almost the entire 20 minutes and were active at both ends of the floor, playing with desperation and intensity that had been lacking.
Anderson made two substitutions less than three minutes into the game and kept shuttling players in and out, looking to keep everyone fresh. It worked over the first 15 minutes, as the Johnnies built a 21-point lead to stun the student-only crowd. Everyone contributed. All 10 St. John’s players scored and the bench produced 27 points in the opening half. Alexander was all over the floor, notching 10 points, six rebounds and two steals.
Seton Hall did respond, closing the half well with an 18-8 run to get within 46-36 at the break. Jared Rhoden came alive, scoring eight of his 12 points in the spurt to wake up the building as St. John’s began misfiring and was unable to get into the paint.
But the momentum didn’t carry over into the second half. St. John’s didn’t allow it. The Red Storm’s intensity never dropped. Their focus didn’t wane. Monday night, they looked like the team everyone expected to see. Now, the question is whether this was an anomaly or the start of a season-saving run.
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