Three takeaways and perspective from St. John’s men’s basketball’s 66-45 win over Wagner

Troubling free-throw shooting nearly doomed St. John’s, but their defense continues to dominate

The Johnnies opened up their third game of the year with a brand new lineup. Coach Pitino rolled out a new starting lineup of Brady Dunlap, Simeon Wilcher, Vince Iwuchukwu, Deivon Smith, and Aaron Scott.

Surprisingly, leading scorer R.J. Luis and captains Kadary Richmond and Zuby Ejiofor came off the bench. An eight-player rotation for the start of the season was beginning to emerge.

First Half

Wagner jumped out in front in the first minute of the game, 2-0, after two free throws by Keyontae Lewis. St. John’s responded at the 18:09 mark as Smith fed an open Wilcher for a three from the left wing and a 3-2 lead. A minute later, Iwuchukwu made a nice spinning move off a dribble, followed by a left-handed hook five feet out for a 5-2 lead.

The Seahawks opened in an effective zone defense, which the Johnnies struggled to penetrate. In a press conference after the Quinnipiac game, R.J. Luis discussed the team’s confidence in Dunlap’s ability to be the zone breaker by hitting the open three. With the score tied, Luis fed him on the right wing for a three and a 10-7 Red Storm lead.

To follow up his assist, Luis hit a layup 30 seconds later and drew a foul with 12:43 remaining for a 12-7 lead.

The Red Storm made 83% of their free throws against Quinnipiac, but that success was not duplicated in this game. Luis began a trend of missed St. John’s free throws that would alarm fans.

With 9:58 left, Wagner had already committed ten fouls, and the Johnnies were in the double bonus with ten minutes to play. Wilcher hit two free throws, but the shooting woes at the charity line were to continue. After Luis missed his fourth free throw of the half, a frustrated fan lamented, “It’s elementary basketball 101, shooting free throws. I blame it on the coach for not making these guys practice free throws until they are near perfect.”

An additional concern to poor free throw shooting was emerging. The Johnnies, though considerably taller than the foul-prone Seahawks, were being outrebounded, and Wagner was converting offensive misses into putback points. With 6:56 to play in the half, Wagner was ahead in rebounds, 13-8, including an edge of six offensive boards to none for St. John’s.

The redeeming factor was the tight defense the Red Storm were playing, and despite the foul shooting woes and the rebounding deficit, the Johnnies led 22-18.

By the end of the half, the quickness of Smith and Luis and the shooting of Wilcher increased the Johnnies to a 31-22 lead.

Halftime

St. John’s holding the the Seahawks to 22 points continued the trend of strong defense through the first two and a half games of the season, but the Red Storm’s 59 percent free throw percentage was concerning. Turnovers were even at eight each, but the Seahawks’ dominance on the offensive glass was troubling. The Seahawks pulled down eight offensive boards to the Red Storm’s one.

Coach Pitino tends to use the same players who started the first half to start the second half of the games. Fans wondered if the same unexpected starting lineup would begin the second half. Astonishing was the limited amount of playing time for captain Kadary Richmond, who only had one basket, no rebounds, and no assists in the first half. It was an unusually unproductive performance by the former First Team All-Big East guard.

Second Half

Richmond and Ejiofor started the second half in place of Dunlap and Iwuchukwu. With Richmond in the game for Dunlap, he began taking on his role as an off-ball wing, with Smith handling the rock. This configuration was problematic as after a Wilcher jumper at 19:48 extended the lead to 33-22, St John’s was scoreless for almost seven minutes. The Johnnies defense held tight as the Seahawks scored only six points of their own.

Ejiofor, who had yet to score, finally scored at the 13:09 mark with a left-handed hook to raise the lead to 35-30. But the Seahawks were still sailing along. With 10:54 left, Javier Ezquerra made a three-pointer to cut the Johnnies lead to two, 39-37.

With ten minutes to play, Richmond returned to the lineup. He had hardly contributed at this point, but that was to change. He blocked a Seahawk shot, drove the length of the court, deep into Seahawk territory, and found a wide-open Smith on the right wing for a three and a 42-37 lead. These were the first points of an eighteen-point run, which was completed with a Dunlap 12-footer and a foul shot. Richmond did not score but dominated the streak with his rebounding and playmaking.

Reserves ended the game on a high note, holding the lead for a final score of St. John’s 66, Wagner 45.

Takeaway #1: Captains came alive in the second half

Kadary Richmond was almost invisible for the first thirty minutes of the game. He allowed Devon Smith to take the lead playing the point guard position. However, after blocking a shot and charging downcourt, finding Smith in the corner for a three, Richmond began to take charge. Not by scoring but through his court vision, making pinpoint passes for open shots. His efforts in the last ten minutes of the game included seven assists on ten made St. John’s shots as the game came to an end.

Fellow captain Zuby Ejiofor, like Richmond, came alive during the last ten minutes of the game, scoring eight points and taking down most of his six rebounds for the game.

Takeaway #2: Protecting the glass was an issue

During the first half, the undersized Seahawks kept themselves in the game through their aggressive rebounding by simply boxing out Red Storm defenders on a regular basis. Every time the Johnnies seemed ready to pull away, a Wagner forward would sneak behind Red Storm defenders to take down and put back an offensive rebound. In the second half, the Red Storm defense tightened up. The eight offensive rebounds in the first half became only three in the second.

The Johnnies will have to focus on the simple necessities of the game to be successful against more accomplished teams. Boxing out when on defense is a basic skill that cannot be compromised if you want to be successful.

Takeaway #3: Dunlap’s three-point scoring is becoming a weapon

With Wagner playing a zone, the importance of Dunlap and his long-range shooting skills cannot be understated. During the 18-0 run, Dunlap scored a third of those points on two triples. The team is now looking for him when attacking a zone. This is a part of the Johnnies’ game plan to assist the team when facing the zone. Dunlap’s ability to move without the ball and free himself and the wide court vision of teammates, particularly Richmond, will go a long way in finding him in future more challenging games.

Outlook

A difficult four-game stretch begins this Sunday, November 17, with a game against a capable New Mexico team coached by Rick Pitino’s son, Richard Pitino. New Mexico has won their first three games, including a win over a ranked UCLA, 72-64, on November 8.

Following the New Mexico game are neutral court games against Baylor, Georgia, and either Tennessee or Virginia. All are challenges and will give a clear view of the team’s potential.

The last ten minutes of play by Kadary Richmond may suggest a different approach to the team’s lead guard. Similarly, Zuby Ejiofor’s play during the same last ten minutes may suggest that he is ready to fill the center role, which seemed so evident after his performance in the Rutgers early season exhibition.

Will Brady Dunlap continue to emerge as a reliable three-point shooter against tightly packed zone defenses? Will his teammates continue to find him for uncontested threes? Lots of yet-to-be-answered questions.

There is a strong eight-person rotation. Some think the promising play of Ruben Prey could make it nine. We will start to find some answers this Sunday in the game against New Mexico.