Steve Lavin has repeatedly looked at this season as one where St. John’s was going to “take the baton” from predecessor Norm Roberts and continue the climb toward the top of the Big East.  Tonight marked Lavin’s opener as coach in what many feel to be the strongest conference in college basketball; and on the road against a school nicknamed the Mountaineers, the climb looked steeper and a lot more difficult considering the Johnnies had not beaten the men from Morgantown in eight years.

Well, records are made to be broken; and demons are meant to be exorcised.

The Red Storm (8-3) picked up where they left off after their Holiday Festival win and were able to play a complete 40 minutes on their way to a statement win over West Virginia (8-3) by the final of 81-71.  Lavin only played eight men as he is now starting to get a better feel for his rotations, with Dwight Hardy, who scored 20 points; (12 from the free throw line) leading the Johnnies while D.J. Kennedy was one of three other St. John’s players in double figures, scoring 17 points and padding his stat line with 11 rebounds in a performance that conjured up memories of “The Hitman” of old.  “We definitely feel like it’s all coming together at one time,” said Kennedy of the win, the third straight for the Red Storm; one that snapped a 10-game losing streak against Bob Huggins’ West Virginia squad, one that went to the Final Four just eight months ago.

After taking a 34-28 lead out of the locker room at halftime, St. John’s continued their solid start and defensive prowess.  Despite only forcing ten Mountaineer turnovers, the Red Storm outrebounded West Virginia 33-24 and managed eight steals.  Defense alone didn’t win the battle for Lavin, who picked up the win in his Big East debut; as St. John’s shot 61 percent from the field.  Not only that, but in what has to be the most impressive and outstanding stat line in the box score; the Red Storm were the grand marshals of a free throw parade, going to the foul line 39 times and converting on 30 of those attempts.  (77 percent) Hardy (12-for-12) and Kennedy (11-for-12) were the principal contributors to the charity stripe efficiency.

West Virginia did get valiant results from their two New York area products, as Mount Vernon’s Kevin Jones led the team with 17 points; while Brooklyn guard Darryl “Truck” Bryant added 14.  The Mountaineers did lead briefly on multiple occasions, and took advantage of the Johnnies’ zone defense with several open looks from the perimeter, shooting 36 percent (13-for-36) from beyond the arc.

St. John’s concludes 2010 on a winning note with this victory, and heads to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center for a New Year’s Day showdown with Keno Davis’ Providence Friars to ring in 2011 before their Monday night Madison Square Garden showdown with a Georgetown team that lost to Notre Dame tonight.