St. John's Has Thunder Buzz

   St. John’s came into Wednesday’s game at Carnesseca Arena coming off an impressive weekend in Philadelphia, one that has created a buzz around this team which had not been seen during the Norm Roberts era. The Red Storm warmed up for their Saturday battle against Duke with a 63-55 win against the Stony Brook Seawolves.

   St. John’s started off strong against the Seawolves, posting a 12-1 run to start the game. While Stony Brook started off slow, they were able to draw closer, going on a 8-2 run that drew them to within 5. But they would not gain any more ground against the Red Storm, who held control throughout the remainder of half. St. John’s went into the break staked to a 10 point lead, 30-20.

The second half was more of the same, as St. John’s and Stony Brook traded baskets for much of the period. But The Seawolves could not draw close to St. John’s, and the result of the game never seemed to be in doubt. St. John’s built the lead to as much as 18 points with 2:18 minutes left in the game. Stony Brook would make a charge during the last two minutes of the contest, but St. John’s walked away with the victory, 63-55.

   Coach Roberts went with Sean Evans, Justin Burrell, DJ Kennedy, Malik Boothe, and Paris Horne as his starting 5 against the much smaller Stony Brook squad.

Sean Evans continued to build on the monster campaign that he has had thus far this season, scoring 12 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in the win. Evans continues to make an argument that he is a legitimate big man, displaying impressive low post moves on both offense and defense. Evans seems to have grown into his role as St. John’s go-to-guy down low, and he is thus far relishing in this role. Evans scored his 12 points on 5-10 shooting from the floor.

DJ Kennedy led all scorers with 19 points on 5-8 shooting from the floor, including 3-5 from beyond the three point line. He was also able to grab 5 rebounds, 2 of them on the offensive end.

Justin Burrell totaled 7 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. Burrell shot 3-5 from the floor. He appears to be injured during the first half, as he was seem grabbing his neck and then later wearing a neck brace. But he reemerged during the second half.

Malik Boothe also scored 7 points against the Seawolves, on 1-6 shooting from the floor. He did most of his damage from the three point line, going a perfect 4-4.

Justin Brownlee led all players coming off the bench with 11 points on 4-9 shooting from the field. Brownlee has been perhaps the nicest surprise for the Red Storm this year, as he has proved to be a reliable guy coming off the bench. He was also impressive on the defensive end, grabbing 7 rebounds.

Keys to Victory

Step on the Gas: During the early goings of the first half, St. John’s was able to play an up-tempo style of play that confused the Seawolves and allowed the Red Storm to build a big lead. Although the Red Storm were never really able to replicate what they did during the early 1^st half, they nonetheless were able to take advantage of Stony Brook’s main weakness and turn it into a big lead.

Grade: B

Dominate Inside: During the times of the game when St. John’s was making a run, rebounding was the key. Both teams struggled shooting the ball, and the difference was who was able to pick up the garbage and turn it into easy points. Sean Evans and Justin Brownlee served as the garbage men for St. John’s, scooping up rebounds and turning them into points. St. John’s finished the game with a 39-31 advantage in the rebounding category.

Grade: B+

The Swish Sound: DJ Kennedy certainly heard that sound against Stony Brook, as he had an impressive shooting day on his way to leading the team with 19 points. He was especially impressive shooting from beyond the arc, going 3-5 from three point land. Paris Horne and Malik Boothe did not have good games shooting the ball, but Kennedy picked up the slack and allowed St. John’s to come away with the large margin of victory.

Grade: B

Make Them Earn Every Point: During the first half St. John’s played a gritty style of basketball that was refreshing to see. The Red Storm were diving for every loose ball, harassing the Stony Brook ball handlers, and creating a general confusion among the Seawolves. It was the kind of play that beats a team like Duke. While they did not continue that play for the full 40, it was still nice to see that the Red Storm can play like that when they want to. I hope we see a full 40 minutes of that on Saturday down in Cameron.

Grade: B+

A Rolaid’s Free Ending: It seems like during the beginning of every season St. John’s has the tendency to play down to competition and not play a full 40 minutes of basketball. We saw it against Brown, and we might see it again, but they did not give in to Stony Brook on Wednesday. St. John’s built a big lead during the early goings, and were able to retain that lead. The result was never in doubt, St. John’s is 6-0.

Grade: A

Final GPA:: 3.32