St. John’s met the Cincinnati Bearcats at Carnesecca Arena on Thursday needing a win, having lost their last 3 games. St. John’s came out strong, and went into the half up 11, 39-28. But St. John’s fell asleep at the wheel, and allowed the Bearcats to go on a 17-2 run; which led to a 11 point victory for the visitors, 71-60.

Cincinnati controlled the tempo early on, and built up a respectable lead on the Red Storm. The Bearcats were staked to an 8 point lead, 17-9 with a little over 10 minutes left in the first half. But then St. John’s took control and was able to hit some clutch threes, slowly chipping away from the Bearcat lead and building a lead of their own. St. John’s went into the half with an 11 point lead, 39-28.

But Cincinnati came out of the gate strong, and they were able to shift the momentum in their favor quickly. A shouting match between DJ Kennedy and Rashad Bishop ended in double technicals and ejection for both players. After that, the Bearcats were able to rally around that and went on a run that left St. John’s reeling. Without the defense presence of Kennedy, Cincinnati guard Deonta Vaughn went on a tear, and was able to lead the Bearcat charge. Cincinnati reclaimed the lead with 5:47 to go in the second period, and did not look back. They finished strong and beat the Red Storm by 11, 71-60.

Coach Roberts went with DJ Kennedy, Sean Evans, Justin Burrell, Quincy Roberts, and Paris Horne as his starting five against the undersized Bearcats.

Paris Horne led the ‘Storm in scoring, with 20 points on 6-10 shooting from the field. Horne was the main reason behind the run that St. John’s made to close out the first half, hitting clutch three pointers that led the charge for the Red Storm. He finished 4-7 from three point land. The sophomore also grabbed 6 rebounds in the loss. Horne also had the hard task of guarding Cincinnati star Deonta Vaughn for most of the game. He was able to shut Vaughn down during the first half, which allowed the Red Storm to control Cincinnati offensively. But the guard went on a tear in the second half, and the rest of Bearcat squad rallied around him; starting on a run that ended the game for the ‘Storm.

Sean Evans had a solid game on both ends of the court, and finished with a double-double; 12 points and 11 rebounds. Evans took advantage of the small Bearcat lineup, using his size and athleticism to overpower them down low. Despite his 11 points, Evans missed many key free throws down the stretch that sparked the Cincinnati rally. But despite his struggles from the charity stripe, it is safe to say that Evans was one of the main reasons for the Red Storms’ surge in the first half.

DJ Kennedy was putting a nice game together for himself going into the second half, but a double technical foul cut the game way too short. At that point in the game, Kennedy had 6 points and 3 rebounds. But then Kennedy and forward Rashad Bishop got into a brief exchange of shoves that put them both back in the locker-room. It would prove to be a turning point in the game, as Cincinnati put it into gear after that.

Justin Burrell was on fire during the first half, and finished with 15 points and 5 rebounds. He shot 5-11 from the floor, and 4-6 from the line. Burrell found his rhythm during the first half, and he was not afraid of driving the lane and taking the foul. But he also turned the ball over 5 times, which helped Cincinnati run away with the contest.

Quincy Roberts started again at point guard in place of Malik Boothe, and before the game coach Roberts said that Boothe could miss another two weeks. Roberts finished with 7 points and 7 rebounds. The freshman was able to control the St. John’s offense well during the first half, breaking the Bearcat press and facilitating a smooth offensive game. But during the Cincinnati run, the Bearcats were able to take advantage of his inexperience, forcing him to turn the ball over and converting those opportunities into easy points.

As always, the JohnnyJungle.com provides you both pre and post game analysis. In the Breakdown I like to see if the team was reading the pre-game column, Calm Before the Storm. Here I will give the Johnnies a school grade for each key to victory to see if they paid attention in class.

No Fancy Euphemisms, Just REBOUND- Sean Evans did a particularly nice job underneath the glass, and he was able to scoop up 12 rebounds. Of those dozen boards, 4 of them were offensive and he was able to convert them into easy buckets; and he finished with 12 points. The rest of the team held there own on the boards as well, and St. John’s was able to out rebound Cincinnati 43- 33. The St. John’s big men also drew a lot of fouls, but did not shoot well from the free throw line. Paris Horne and Sean Evans were a combined 8-22 from the charity stripe, and it killed the Red Storm down the stretch.

Grade: B-

The Winter Outside- Cincinnati was frigid cold shooting from the outside during the first half, going 1-11 from beyond the line in the period. But clutch three point shooting during the second period added the punch that the Bearcats needed to put them over the top. The team shot 5-9 from deep during the second half, all of them coming during their 17-2 run.

Grade: C

Don’t Use all Ten Seconds Passing in the Backcourt- Cincinnati employed a full court press from the outset of the game, and kept with it. But during the first half, Quincy Roberts was able to move the ball up court with ease, and St. John’s seemed to have beaten the press. Cincinnati went back to the press in the second half though, this time with better results for the Bearcats St. John’s suddenly had a hard time bringing the ball up, and Cincinnati took advantage to the tune of 21 Red Storm turnovers. This new found tenacious press also broke the rhythm that St. John’s went into the half with, and Cincinnati was able to take control again.

Grade: C-

Involve Justin- JB took advantage of many open looks throughout the game, and finished with 15 points. Burrell did a good job of moving without the basketball, which allowed him to be a prime target for Quincy Roberts. Burrell shot 5-11 from the field, and 4-6 from the free throw line.

Grade: B

No Foul Play- Except for the DJ Kennedy incident, St. John’s played a pretty clean game. The referees called a lot of fouls on both sides during the game, but St. John’s had 21 to Cincy’s 28. There were a lot of tacky fouls called on the St. John’s big men during the stretch run during the second half, and the Bearcats capitalized and turned it into points.

Grade: C-

Final GPA: 2.22

Dan Bart is a sophomore at St. John’s and has long family ties to the University. He and site founder, Dave Krupinski, both attended Christian Brother Academy in Lincroft, NJ. Dan is a diehard Jets fan and is currently enjoying life living off campus. Dan is a 2nd year staff writer for JohnnyJungle.com. You can email Dan with you comments, questions, and for his female fans his phone number. danbart@JohnnyJungle.com