Takeaways from St. John's basketball thrilling exhibition win against No. 25 Rutgers

Bench must be developed

Rick Pitino coached to win in the second half but he admitted after the game that the depth pieces on his roster need to be developed.

What makes Pitino's teams so good is that there are multiple players who can step on the court and contribute and the Red Storm only showcased six of those guys on Thursday night.

Simeon Wilcher, as many forecasted, took that next step in his development and displayed his athleticism and shooting with 15 points, six rebounds, and three assists.

Vince Iwuchukwu, Ruben Prey, and Jaiden Glover all played less than five minutes and Brady Dunlap struggled in his 13 minutes of action. Those are going to be very important players for the Johnnies this season in order that the starters do not have to consistently log over 30 minutes per contest.

Rutgers was a great opening challenge for St. John's

St. John's is not going to face many better duos than Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey this season.

Will they face better teams than Rutgers? Yes.

But two better individual talents than Harper and Bailey? Probably not.

The two are destined to be Top-5 selections in the 2025 NBA Draft with their ability to shoot, rebound, and draw fouls. It was all on display Thursday, combining for 45 points on 16-of-34 shooting.

However, the supporting cast of the Scarlet Knights must help out its rookies while Harper and Bailey need to trust their teammates, combining for just two assists.

Still, St. John's went on the road and defeated an Associated Press Top-25 team in front of a decent crowd that was very much into the game. It wasn't a sold out Jersey Mike's Arena that causes havoc for opponents, but it still provided a quality atmosphere.

It was a great way to start the season for a Red Storm team that must make the NCAA Tournament and has hopes of winning games in March Madness.