St. John's basketball shows tremendous fortitude in demolition of Virginia

The St. John’s basketball team was supposed to be out of gas after a double overtime game less than 24 hours ago. The Johnnies were supposed to be mentally checked out after seeing No. 13 Baylor win on a buzzer beater.

They didn’t get the memo.

A dominant effort over Virginia on Friday night resulted in an 80-55 victory that was highlighted by a first half filled with blocks, dunks, and 3-pointers.

“To respond that way, was extremely impressive,” Rick Pitino said following the win.

“Because of the shot clock situation, because of the way the game ended, that was probably more difficult than the Duke loss with Christian Laettner because of the way it ended that way,” he explained referencing his time at Kentucky.

Pitino also referenced a 5OT loss in 2013 with Louisville during the regular season, only to not lose again enroute to a National Championship.

All the motivation tactics worked on this night.

“I thought they were thoroughbreds tonight in their attitude.”

St. John’s outscored the Cavaliers 11-0 in fast break points and 20-4 in the paint. The Johnnies rattled off a 16-0 run that revolved around RJ Luis and expanded its lead to 19 points, 35-16. The budding star had nine points in the stretch with an emphatic block and assist to Deivon Smith on an alley-oop.

“I’m not sure what he can’t master,” Pitino said about Luis. “I think he’s a Top-10 player in the nation…he’s going to be a better pro than he’s going to be a college player.”

Luis finished with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting with three rebounds, two assists, a block, and four steals.

St. John’s got contributions from its entire roster, everyone who entered the game scored except for one player. The team finished with a 28-point differential in the paint as Zuby Ejiofor, who missed two costly free throws in double overtime on Thursday, finished with eight points and nine rebounds as he was serenaded by chants from the Red Storm faithful.

Kadary Richmond continued his strong play from late in the loss to Baylor to add 12 points and four assists while Smith nearly captured a triple-double, falling two assists shy.

No. 22 St. John’s (5-1) will get a day off on Saturday before concluding its Bahamas trip on Sunday morning (11:00 a.m. ET, CBS Sports Network) against Georgia (5-0) from the Atlantis Paradise Island.