St. John’s men’s basketball guts out signature win over No. 11 Marquette

Luis and Richmond led the Johnnies to victory in a forty-minute battle of attrition

If there were any lingering doubts that this is a new era of St. John’s basketball, it was put to rest on Tuesday night. The Johnnies scrapped and clawed for forty minutes in a back-and-forth game and finished on top to secure a signature 70-64 win over No. 11 Marquette in front of a super-charged Madison Square Garden crowd.

After a Chase Ross three opened the game for Marquette, the Red Storm responded with a 9-0 run punctuated by a Simeon Wilcher’s and-one fastbreak layup. The Golden Eagles countered with a 13-2 run led by sophomore guard Zaide Lowery, who stepped up for a foul trouble-stricken Kam Jones and scored a team-high 10 points off the bench in the first half. R.J. Luis commanded the Red Storm offense, scoring 12 points and draining a three through the first twenty minutes. Both teams took turns trading the lead at the end of the first half, but Marquette entered halftime with a slim 31-30 edge.

Despite shooting 56.5% from the field, 5-of-10 from three, and having fewer giveaways, the Golden Eagles were overmatched on the glass, with St. John’s doubling their first-half rebound total and pulling down as many offensive rebounds as Marquette’s 11 total first-half boards. That trend continued into the second half.

Even though St. John’s sprinted to a 8-0 run to open the second half, Marquette was always right beside them. Until the game’s final minute, the Red Storm lead never grew any larger than six or seven points, and they left plenty of points at the line, only making six of their first 19 free throw attempts. For the eleventy-seventh time this season, St. John’s needed to get stops despite poor shooting to prevail, and they executed to perfection late in the second half.

The Red Storm restrained Marquette to only 29% shooting in the second half and a 3-of-15 from deep. R.J. Luis spearheaded the Johnnies’ defense with indefatigable intensity all night long, remaining on the floor for all forty minutes while posting 17 points, 11 rebounds, four steals, and three blocks.

When Kam Jones nailed a go-ahead corner three with 5:20 remaining to give Marquette their first lead since the start of the second half, that basket did not become a tide-shifting basket the Golden Eagles needed; it would only be their final basket of the game. Deivon Smith made a free throw seconds later, then zipped down the court to score on a fastbreak layup on the next Red Storm possession to take a 57-55 lead.

Non-stop fouling slowed to a crawl in the clutch, but St. John’s didn’t let free throw shooting kill them in these vital moments, swishing seven of their eight free throw attempts in the final five minutes.

The ever-determined Kadary Richmond shut the door on Marquette in the final two minutes. With 1:37 remaining, Richmond broke the Golden Eagles’ press and swung a beautiful bounce pass to a cutting Aaron Scott for a two-handed dunk.

On the very next possession, Richmond blocked a Royce Parham three with 1:11 remaining in the game out of bounds. Along with that critical block, the Brooklyn native finished with a team-high 18 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, and two steals.

The No. 12 St. John’s Red Storm improved to a 20-3 record, their best through 23 games since 1985-86, and now have a 1.5-game lead for first place in the Big East standings. The Johnnies have a three-game turnaround before they travel north to face No. 19 UConn in Storrs, Connecticut on Friday night (8:00 p.m., FOX).