Three takeaways and perspective from St. John’s men’s basketball’s 77-64 win over Harvard

Kadary Richmond and R.J. Luis took command late, while Jaiden Glover shined in his first opportunity playing significant minutes

A full house at Carnesecca Arena was on hand to see the Johnnies take on the Harvard Crimson after a disappointing weekend in the Bahamas. Missing the services of guard Deivon Smith due to team-imposed disciplinary action left the fans anxious yet excited. Who would fill the void?

First Half

St. John’s was ready with a starting quintet of Aaron Scott, Kadary Richmond, Simeon Wilcher, R.J. Luis, and Zuby Ejiofor. The Johnnies opened their first offensive set running a weave, and sixteen seconds into the weave, Richmond found an opening down the right side of the lane for a layup.

On the next set, again off of a weave, it was Richmond to Scott on the right wing to Luis under the basket, where he drew a foul and made two of two free throws for a four-point lead.

With 16:57 remaining in the first half, Luis drove into the paint and found an open Wilcher in the right corner for a three and a 9-0 lead.

Over the next two minutes, Harvard fought back with a 6-0 run, but despite their efforts, the Johnnies were still leading 9-6. After Luis extended the lead to twelve at 12-6, freshman Jaiden Glover entered the game. Known as a three-point specialist, Glover was given the opportunity to play due to Smith’s disciplinary action. Glover did not disappoint fans. With eight minutes to go in the half, Richmond fed a free Glover on the right wing for a three, followed, on the next possession, by Luis finding a wide-open Glover for a second three, expanding the lead the Red Storm lead to sixteen, 24-8. It was the end of a 15-2 run by the Johnnies, which established St. John’s dominance during the first twelve minutes of the game.

Richmond began asserting himself in the offensive flow, hitting two jumpers as the first half was moving towards its end, but it was indeed Luis who dominated with his quickness and his ability to attack the offensive glass, putting back rebounds for points. However, Harvard did not give in and drew within nine with sixteen seconds to play. But with four seconds to play, Wilcher stole the ball and fed Glover on the left wing for a three-point shot at the buzzer and a 40-28 St. John’s lead.

Halftime

Glover ended up scoring eleven points as teammates found him open on the outside for eleven points on four shots. Luis matched his eleven points and added five rebounds and three assists.

Equally impressive was the fact that the Johnnies took down 19 rebounds to 12 for Harvard and assisted on nine of fifteen baskets.

Second Half

The quintet who started the game for the Red Storm also started the second half. Wilcher made a clean steal at mid-court and drove hard past a Harvard defender for a layup extending the lead. The Johnnies held Harvard scoreless for over three minutes of the half with a tight man-to-man defense. There was little double-teaming, and the Johnnies were adept at switching off when screens freed Crimson drivers.

At the ten-minute mark of the half, the Johnnies began passing into Luis as he cut toward the free-throw line to break down the defense. It worked with Luis turning and hitting a 15-footer, then driving down the lane for a layup. Thirty seconds later, he rotated to the left corner, and Glover fed him for a three and a 63-50 Red Storm lead.

With the Red Storm comfortably ahead and two minutes to play, Ejiofor took a wide-open three from the top of the paint. It missed everything, but Brady Dunlap hustled under the basket, retrieving the ball and spectacularly making a backhanded pass while in the air to Luis for a layup, the last points of Luis’ 24-point effort. At game’s end, the Red Storm posted a 77-64 victory.

Takeaway #1: The St. John’s Way

Later in the evening, after the Johnnies’ victory and the players signing autographs for fans, the somber news of the passing of legendary coach Lou Carnesecca was reported. Coach Carnesecca established the mentality of unselfishness for his St. John’s teams. The players always put the team first and, working together, had great success over his twenty-four years as head coach.

After Deivon Smith handled his benching during last week’s game versus Georgia poorly, coach Rick Pitino stated: “That is not the St. John’s way. I expect the players to always put the success of the team before their own personal success”.

After the Harvard game, coach Pitino made the following statement: “I’ll go home tonight and say Brady Dunlap was our MVP, and nobody else will agree with that, but I thought he was. His hustle kept us in the game.” In addition to the spectacular play near the end of the game, Dunlap scored two points, took down seven rebounds, and made a steal. He was playing “The St. John’s Way”

Takeaway #2: Johnnies continue to win the board battle, but their ball distribution leaves some to be desired

The Johnnies, throughout most of the game, took care of business. There were a few moments of letdown and opportunistic timeouts that were successful in correcting errors. The Red Storm resoundingly won the rebounding battle, 50 to 37, and the Crimson rarely put back a shot after an offensive rebound while the Johnnies, particularly R.J. Luis and Zuby Ejiofor, feasted on the offensive rebounds they put back for scores.

The Johnnies assisted on 15 of 31 field goals, a little below 50 percent. While this was below the average of previous games, it should be noted the percentage was sixty percent in the first half. Why the drop-off in the second half? See takeaway three.

Takeaway #3: Richmond and Luis took over the game

Fans have been waiting for a breakout game from Kadary Richmond, and they got it. There was a layup in the first sixteen seconds of the game and two jumpers later in the first half. Then, as Harvard was trying one last comeback, Richmond took the game over in the last nine minutes. He saw openings in the Crimson defense and didn’t hesitate, scoring three layups to maintain the eight-to-thirteen distance the Red Storm held over the second half. It was not the usual high assist game for Richmond, as he had but four, but game circumstances in the second half called for him to take over on his own.

Then there was R.J. Luis, who, once again, had a double-double with 24 points and ten rebounds, adding four assists to tie Richmond for the team lead in assists. He also hit a three from the left corner. During the second half, St. John’s began to look for Luis, cutting towards the free throw line with entry passes. The play worked on a couple of occasions, and fans should look to see if this becomes a part of the Johnnies’ offensive attack in coming games. In addition, if Luis can be more consistent from three-point land, his offensive game will blossom as the season progresses.

Outlook

The Red Storm’s season enters the third of four stages of the season. The first part was the three-game early season “buy games.” Then there was the four-game set, beginning with New Mexico through the Georgia game, all games with teams capable of being in the tournament. The next stretch begins with the Harvard game through the Delaware game, which includes two Big East contests (DePaul and Providence) in between. The last segment is the last two-thirds of the season, the Big East Conference play.

St John’s has three games left in the non-Big East schedule. Win these three, with a truly challenging game this Saturday against Kansas State, and the Johnnies will have met the goal of a 9 and 2 against non-conference teams, an acceptable start to the season, noting that the two losses were by a total of four points.

So can the Johnnies consistently play the St. John’s Way with consistent, unselfish, forty-minute-per-game effort? The talent is here, and the Brady Dunlaps of the team, even when not scoring, make a difference.