The last thing St. John’s needed was a letdown after tumbling out of the rankings with a 7-4 record. The Red Storm almost sleepwalked their way into a trap game against Harvard two nights before Christmas, but they gained a pulse after a lifeless start and rolled to an 85-59 victory in their final non-conference contest and last Carnesecca Arena date of the season.
That lack of passion right before the holiday break was apparent at the start of the game. St. John’s looked disinterested and struggled to halt Harvard’s dribble penetration, falling behind early 13-5. Even though the Red Storm went on a 9-0 run to claim the lead, their advantage wouldn’t last long. They struggled to stay in front of the Crimson’s ball handlers and surrendered too many easy buckets off blown coverage, trailing 31-26 with 6:37 remaining in the first half and allowing their Ivy League opponents to make 14 of their first 21 attempts.
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The Red Storm finally woke up and showed aggression, roaring to a 20-2 run and taking a 46-33 halftime lead. They held the Crimson scoreless for the final 3:57 of the half, and their offense hummed to the tune of 55.9% shooting from the field heading into the break.
St. John’s didn’t miss a beat coming out of halftime, jumping to a 12-3 run and taking a 58-36 lead after Dylan Darling stole the ball and scored on a fastbreak layup with 16:28 remaining. The Red Storm coasted from that point and limited the Crimson to only 26 second-half points on 32% shooting (8-of-25). Rebounding wasn’t an issue either, with the Johnnies dominating the boards, 39-22.
Ian Jackson, Bryce Hopkins, and Zuby Ejiofor each led the Red Storm with 14 points. Jackson’s confidence continued to grow, sinking four of his eight attempted treys to score in double figures for a fourth consecutive game. Hopkins looked more aggressive after a rocky outing against Kentucky, and Zuby Ejiofor nearly recorded a double-double by grabbing a team-high nine rebounds.
“One thing about us is we don’t panic, we don’t pay attention to any nonsense about where we are. We just try to get better each day,” head coach Rick Pitino said after the game, “We know come March, we think we’ll be a good basketball team, but we have a long way to go and a lot of growth to make.”
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St. John’s will be off for the next eight days before they enter the thick of Big East play, travelling down to Washington, D.C. to face the Georgetown Hoyas (9-4, 1-1 Big East) on New Year’s Eve. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on FS1.
