The St. John’s basketball team has gotten a lot better in many aspects of the game throughout the season – specifically, its rebounding, point guard play, and toughness.
However, the poise the Red Storm has shown in challenging moments during its 11-game win streak has been the most impressive area of growth since a rocky start to the year.
The Johnnies’ poise was on full display during the second half of its victory against Providence after the fight between the two teams, but it has been shown in more traditional games too.
After going up by 17 points against Villanova, St. John’s stayed composed to hit big shots late in the game once the Wildcats trimmed the lead to five. It was never frazzled when trailing big in the second half against Seton Hall and Xavier, rallying to win both games.
The team never flinched when seeing its lead vanish late in a rematch with the Musketeers, needing a basket with less than 30 seconds remaining to force overtime.
It was never always the case with St. John’s this season after seeing momentum shift in eventual losses against Auburn, Kentucky, and Providence. When losing the lead in each of those games, the Red Storm panicked, got rushed, and dug a deeper hole it could not get out of.
It was all a learning process yet the Johnnies’ most impressive feat was keeping its cool after the scuffle in Rhode Island.
Despite seeing three players ejected because they left the bench, St. John’s kept its poise -- it didn’t flinch or get swept up in the moment.
Dillon Mitchell’s ejection, as well as Providence’s Jaylin Sellers, felt like it was more of an act for the officials to get the game under control more than actions by either player on the court.
“You’re not supposed to come off the bench, but you can’t let your players get beat up,” Rick Pitino said following the 79-69 victory.
After Jamier Jones was ejected for its Flagrant 2 foul against Zuby Ejiofor late in the game, there was no confrontation from any of the Johnnies that could have led to further discipline.
“We didn’t initiate anything,” Pitino explained. “We teach toughness is not turning the ball over, creating steals, getting offensive rebounds. That’s what we believe toughness is. We made some big plays.”
The Johnnies showing the ability to be unflappable in the big moments will serve it well going forward as the team looks to repeat in the Big East Tournament and advance beyond the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.
No. 17 St. John’s (20-5, 13-1 Big East) will be back on the court Wednesday night (9:00 p.m. ET, TNT) in Milwaukee against Marquette (9-17, 4-11 Big East).