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St. John’s Red Storm: Johnnies Storm Back Against St. Mary’s

By Chris Godfrey

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St. John’s slogged through a nightmarish first half that left them trailing by 15 at halftime. However, the Johnnies roared back to victory behind heavy doses of veteran leadership, defensive energy, and timely shooting. The Red Storm (9-1) would go on to outscore St. Mary’s (6-3) 35-14 in the second half en route to escaping from Carnesseca Arena with a 53-47 victory.

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St. John’s looked ripe to fall victim to the upset bug, as they were thoroughly dominated in the early going by the Gaels’ Brad Waldow. The Gaels’ big man registered 19 of his game-high 26 points before the intermission. However, St. Mary’s (6-3) struggled to maintain there momentum in the second half, and quickly saw the game slip away.

Senior and reigning Big East Player of the Week, D’Angelo Harrison, paced St. John’s with 21 points and led the charge offensively. Another senior, Dom Pointer (11 points and 11 rebounds), changed the game on the defensive end. His quickness in ball denial situations and his tenacity on the glass stymied Waldow in the second half.

Here’s a few important takeaways from the contest.

This is the game that could keep St. Mary’s out of the NCAA Tournament…

The Gaels are who they are. They are a consistently solid, yet never spectacular, mid-major basketball program. They’ll never be Gonzaga, but a lot of bad things would need to happen for them to ever fall out of their perennial top three positioning in the WCC (losing head coach Randy Bennett would qualify).

When you are consistently finishing second, and now third with the addition of BYU, wrangling at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament is a tough ask. The Gaels have done so in years past, but after losing tonight, it will take a small miracle (for instance, sweeping both BYU and Gonzaga) for the Gaels to get an at-large bid.

At halftime, it looked like the Gaels were going to leave Queens with a RPI top 30 win to hang their hat on. Now the Gaels have to file this loss away next to defeats at the hands of Boise State and Northern Arizona.

St. John’s is going to be in the top 25 for a nice little while…

There was chatter amongst voters that the AP and ESPN pulled the trigger too early on inviting the Red Storm to the top 25 party. The Johnnies’ detractors looked quite knowledgeable during the first half, but the team’s ferocious comeback highlighted some noticeable differences between this year’s squad and previous editions.

Down 15 at the time, the Red Storm took the floor for the second half poised and confident. They showed discipline and maturity by sticking to their gameplan, and immediately began to chip away at their deficit. These are the traits of a veteran-laden team. The last time head coach Steve Lavin had senior leadership on his roster was his first season in Queens (2010-2011). That team beat a host of ranked opponents and stayed in the top 25 for the better part of the February and March. This team, led by seniors Harrison and Pointer as well as Jamal Branch and Phil Greene IV, has the potential to do the same.

Steve Lavin is getting creative with the clipboard…

The strong point of Steve Lavin’s coaching skill set reveals itself in the living room of recruits more often than a does between the two peach baskets. Lavin is a gifted talker, and a brilliant orator. He turns halftime interviews into coaching clinics for the viewing audience. He will always be a recruiter first.

However, it is important to give credit where it is due. After watching Brad Waldow outscore his entire team in the first half, Coach Lavin made the decision to switch his defensive anchor, Chris Obekpa, away from Waldow in favor of Dom Pointer. Instead of playing Waldow from behind, Pointer fronted Waldow, forcing high entry passes that allowed Obekpa to slide over in a suffocating help-defense role. The change in scheme effectively shutdown the Gaels best player and left their offense lost in the second half. Kudos to Lavin and his staff for making a a game-winning adjustment.

QUICK HITS

  • Chris Obekpa’s John Stockton shorts continue to be one of the best things about college basketball this year.
  • Are the Johnnies keeping Rysheed Jordan on the bench to sabotage his chances of going pro next year and further depleting their roster?
  • It will be fun to watch how Brian Waldow fairs against the big trees that make up the front line at Gonzaga.
  • Joey De La Rosa debuted for the Red Storm, finally giving them a second big man. His presence allowed Chris Obekpa a longer leash defensively, and it also put St. John’s five-guard lineup on the shelf. De La Rosa sat out the first nine games due to the circumstances of his transfer from FIU.
  • Joey’s little brother Adonis is still in NCAA purgatory and has yet to play a game this year. The Red Storm don’t want to risk forfeiting wins if he is later deemed ineligible.
  • Dom Pointer and Chris Obekpa are possibly the two most dominant defensive players in the country, and they play right next to each other.
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