St. John’s men’s basketball shuts down Georgetown’s offense in big road rout

The Red Storm held the Hoyas to 41 total points, their fewest in a Big East regular season game

There was no let-up, no resistance, and no doubt.

15th-ranked St. John’s rode an utterly dominant first half to a 66-41 blowout win over Georgetown in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday night.

The Red Storm flipped the first half script from their last meeting with the Hoyas, sprinting to a commanding 23-3 start, putting Georgetown in a proverbial bear hug on the defensive end while skewering their zone defense inside and outside of the arc. The Johnnies shot 10-of-17 to open the game, while the Hoyas sputtered out to a 1-of-11 start.

St. John’s continued to pour it on, forcing turnovers and breaking out in transition. Simeon Wilcher intercepted a Micah Peavy pass, then raced to the other end and connected with R.J. Luis on an alley-oop dunk to give St. John’s a 37-9 lead.

That lead ballooned to 30 points after a Jaiden Glover layup with 2:54 left in the first half gave the Red Storm a 41-11 lead, ultimately entering the halftime break with a 47-21 edge. St. John’s entered the break shooting 61.8% overall and 45.5% from three. Kadary Richmond (11 points) and Zuby Ejiofor (9 points) almost outscored the Hoyas by themselves in the first half.

That wide first half margin created enough distance for St. John’s to clinch the game, even as their offensive well dried up for most of the second half. The Johnnies came out of halftime making two of their first thirteen shots and went scoreless for almost six minutes at one point, but they crushed any chance for Georgetown to gain momentum by leaning on their elite shutdown defense.

The Red Storm forced 10 of their 16 total takeaways after halftime and held the Hoyas to 20 points and 25.9% shooting in the second half, only a skosh better than their 23.3% first half shooting clip. Micah Peavy’s fastbreak dunk with 7:05 remaining in the second half to cut the St. John’s lead to 55-39 would stand as the Hoyas’ last made field goal of the game, as they missed their final seven shots. Georgetown’s 41 points were their fewest ever scored in a Big East regular season game and their second-fewest against any Big East opponent. Even if St. John’s put up a goose egg in the second half, they would have won by six.

No. 15 St. John’s (18-3, 9-1 Big East) returns home on Saturday, February 1 when they face the Providence Friars (11-10, 5-5 Big East) at Madison Square Garden. Tip-off is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. Eastern time and the game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.