The Unofficial 6th Man of St. John’s Basketball

Games Over But Class Is Still In Session

The Johnnies stopped the Hoyas big men by playing in a 2-3 zone that kept the ball outside. One side-effect of this was the fact that the Hoyas had good looks from behind the arc, and converted them all game. But, the Redmen were able to do a good job of neutralizing the Hoya’s strength, which is their low-post play. Georgetown helped the SJU cause by not finding the basket for long stretches of time, at one point going five minutes without scoring. The SJU bench played well in the first half, combining to score 9 points in the low-scoring half. The Johnnies came out of the break red hot and tied the score at 27. The teams went back and forth after that, with neither being able to assert themselves with a sizeable lead. The Storm played with the Hoyas for the first 10 minutes of the half, before showing cracks and allowing Georgetown to build a lead. The Hoyas were excellent shooting the three ball, going 40% from beyond the arc. Their prowess shooting the three was the main reason they built their lead. The Storm did not do a good job of contesting the open looks that Georgetown seemed to get all game. The Hoyas built a 10 point lead with 6:43 left, and SJU was never able to recover. Austin Freeman hit a trey with 3:55 left that put the Hoyas up 13 and proved to be the final nail in the coffin. Georgetown closed it out with a 12 point win. Despite the loss; the Storm played well, putting forth their best effort since their win over Providence.

   Norm Roberts went big against the Hoyas, or as big as this team could be. Mason, Burrell, Jasiulonis, Lawrence and Kennedy got the nod for the Redmen. Mason was put to the test, playing all but 2 minutes in the contest; and he responded with a decent game. He started off slow, but picked it up as the game went along. He scored 12 on 5-12 shooting, tops for the Storm. But, he also led the team with 4 turnovers. Justin Burrell asserted himself with 10 points, also on 5-12 shooting, along with 5 rebounds. Thomas Jasiulionis had the unenviable task of guarding Georgetown big-man Roy Hibbert. He finished the game with more fouls than points, 4 fouls to go with 3 points. Eugene Lawrence was the main reason for the strong SJU start, scoring the first 7 points for the Redmen. He finished with 9, to go along with 4 assists, which led the team. DJ Kennedy did a good job on the defensive side of the ball, grabbing a game high 7 rebounds; which is no small feat against the powerful Hoyas. He injected life into the at times dormant Johnnies with his hustle and aggressive play. Dele Coker saw significant minutes helping Thomas Jasiulionis to defend Hibbert. He scored 4 points and grabbed 4 boards. Sean Evans and Paris Horne both came off the bench and saw some time, scoring 7 points between them. Credit must go to St. John’s for out rebounding Georgetown, 24-20, but that was not enough to get them a victory. One thing that killed the Storm, especially in the first half, was turnovers. The Redmen turned the ball over 15 times, as opposed to only 11 for the Hoyas. They also didn’t do a good job of defending the three, which was the main reason why Georgetown was able to build a big lead. Before game, Garrett Knieste outlined his keys to victory in CBTS.

St. John’s came into the game against #10 Georgetown reeling, having lost 4 straight; including a humiliating 30 point loss to Duke. To have any chance of salvaging the season, the Johnnies needed a win over the powerful Hoyas. The last time these old time rivals met, SJU got spanked at the Garden; losing by 32. The loss was more than embarrassing, maybe the worst lost for the program in the last few years. There wasn’t much hope for the Storm coming into Wednesday’s game against the Hoyas, but the Johnnies played surprisingly well. Despite their somewhat solid play, the Johnnies still lost, 64 to 52. The game was closer than the score would indicate though, as SJU gave Georgetown a good game right up until the end, before finally succumbing to the dominant Georgetown squad. St. John’s came out of the gate playing an aggressive style of basketball that confused the Hoyas and got them off their early game plan. This allowed the Redmen to set the pace and play their game. They kept it close the whole 1st half, never going down by more than 8, before going into the break down four, 27-23. The Redmen did a good job on defense, limiting second chance opportunities for the Hoyas. One problem they did have was turnovers, which Georgetown did a good job of causing; which was the main reason for their slim half-time lead.

By: Dan Bart

Own the Paint: To begin the game the Storm played mostly out of a set 2-3 zone. This worked effectively to begin with as it helped to neutralize the advantage the Hoyas had underneath. But as the game wore on, the Hoyas were able to assert themselves underneath despite the pressure. Even with all of the effort from the Redmen, Roy Hibbert still scored 17 points, second only to DaJuan Summers. While the Storm focused on winning the battle underneath, they forced the Hoyas to beat them with the three-ball, and that’s exactly what they did. Georgetown went an impressive 10-25 from beyond the arc, and that gave them the victory. DaJuan Summers went 5-8 from beyond the arc, and led the Hoyas with 21 points.

Test Grade: D

DaJuan Summers

DaJuan Summers led all scorers with 21 points. The 6-8 forward shot an impressive 5-8 from deep, and was too much for SJU to handle. He hit key shots at key times and was able to take advantage of the SJU defense. Despite heavy pressure underneath, Roy Hibbert still scored 17 points for the Hoyas. For the Redmen, Anthony Mason Jr. played almost the whole game and led the team with 12 points. DJ Kennedy did a good job on defense and cleaned up the glass to the tune of 7 rebounds for the Storm.

Get to the Line: The only way SJU is going to have a prayer against a team like Georgetown is if they take advantage of the chances they get at the line. They have to get to the line early and often, and also come away with points. While their problem in the past has been hitting their foul shots, in this game it was actually getting the shots. The Redmen only went to the line five times. Eugene Lawrence, who leads the team in trips to the line, started off the game with 2 attempts, but could not build on that.

Test Grade: F

Hit Your Free Throws: Well, the Storm did shoot 80% from the line. That would be a stellar stat, and something that could have spelled victory for the Redmen. But, the sample size is beyond small, as they only attempted 5 shots.

Test Grade: Incomplete

Fight Because You Want To: After the drubbing at the hands of Duke, I wondered if this team had any fight in it at all. While it is a fact that they are overmatched talent-wise, why do they have to be overmatched heart-wise? Prior to this game it seemed like the team didn’t care. But the Georgetown game did do something to change that, at least a little bit. While it was again a double-digit loss, the team showed heart and hustle in the face of a tough opponent in a tough place to play. They showed hustle on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball, and this game was a dog fight. They played hard from the opening tip ‘til the end, but it was not enough to sink the powerful Hoyas. I don’t think all the heart in the world could do that.

Test Grade: B

Final GPA: 1.34