Three takeaways and perspective from St. John’s men’s basketball’s 70-64 win over Marquette

St. John’s extinguished doubt of whether they could win in a big game with another incredible defensive performance

An hour before the long anticipation of the matchup between top-15 teams St. John’s and Marquette, Johnnies fans expressed reserved optimism at Stout’s 1870 Club get-together before the game. Would the vaunted Red Storm defense hold up against the experienced, highly ranked Marquette offense?

Two and a half hours later, the answer would be clear.

First Half

Forty-five seconds into the game, Chase Ross of Marquette hit a three-pointer for a 3-0 Marquette lead. Marquette would not score for another five minutes as the Johnnies built a 9-3 lead. Kadary Richmond continued his offensive explosion from the recent Providence game with two early jumpers.

Marquette began to find the range, and a 13-2 run propelled the Golden Eagles to a 16-11 just before the first half’s midpoint. A Richmond layup closed the gap, and at the 10:04 point of the half, the Johnnies were down 16-13.

Marquette maintained a slight edge throughout the remainder of the half, with R.J. Luis scoring 10 points in the final ten minutes of the half. At the halftime buzzer, Marquette was up by a point, 31-30.

Halftime

Marquette was outshooting the Johnnies, 56.5% to 40%, at the half. Even more telling was the gap in three-point conversions. Marquette hit five of ten shots while the Johnnies converted two of nine. To counter Marquette’s offensive shooting, the Johnnies dominated the boards, taking down 18 rebounds to ten for the Golden Eagles, including nine Red Storm offensive rebounds to none for the Golden Eagles.

Fans observed the quickness of Marquette defenders, double-teaming the Red Storm whenever someone drove to the basket, leading to five steals. The Golden Eagles were packing the defense into the key, making it difficult to attack the basket. But the ability to take down offensive rebounds and convert these into second-chance opportunities was keeping the game close. Marquette was also fouling the Johnnies on their attacks to the basket and accumulating fouls. Leading scorer, senior Kam Jones, was on the bench for several minutes in the half and only collected two points.

One fan, during halftime, expressed confidence for the Johnnies to play well in the second half but wondered if the game plan was to have “the St. John’s big men wandering well past the foul line in picking up Marquette attackers and unable to provide support under the basket.” It was a valid point worth being conscious of as the half proceeded.

Second Half

The Red Storm started the second half with an 8-0 run. Richmond was not scoring but feeding his teammates, Simeon Wicher and Aaron Scott, who both hit jumpers as the Red Storm jumped off to a 38-31 lead with 16:55 to play. Another minute would pass before a three by Royce Parham from the corner cut the lead back to four points. The Red Storm’s defense was swarming with an occasional weakness, allowing the Golden Eagles to find teammates open for corner jump shots.

Devon Smith entered the game at the fifteen-minute mark of the half to replace Wilcher upon picking up his third foul. A fan commented that he hoped that Smith would begin to contribute, while a second fan pointed out that one of his contributions was to guard Jones for much of the first half, and, to this point, the Johnnies were holding him to but two points.

With 10:39 left in the half, Luis took down a rebound and dribbled down the court with but one Golden Eagle defender to defeat. Instead of challenging him, he pulled up and hit a streaking Zuby Ejiofor down the right side with a bounce pass leading to an Ejiofor layup and a foul shot, which he made for a three-point play and a 43-36 lead.

The Garden crowd was energized, and soon after, the Johnnies went into a press, and Smith knocked the inbound attempt out of bounds. The fans became loud. They were so vociferous and frenetic as Marquette tried to inbound the ball from the corner next to their basket that the referees called time and asked the fans standing at courtside to sit down. Of course, the fans’ response was to cheer even louder, but they eventually calmed down. The Garden was truly electric, with the Red Storm battling to maintain a slight lead.

Two players who were scoring little came alive down the stretch. Kam Jones taking the ball to the basket and hitting a number of off-balanced shots even when being defended became the primary source of scoring for Marquette, and Deivon Smith, demonstrating his speed, was streaking downcourt for layups or short jumpers.

After Jones hit his only three-pointer of the game with 5:20 remaining to play, Deivon Smith responded with a free throw and a layup to return the lead to the Johnnies. For the remainder of the game, the Red Storm held the Golden Eagles to but seven made free throws to walk away with a 70-64 win.

On the hand-shake line, Marquette coach Shaka Smart was seen giving a hug and a few words of congratulations to Kadary Richmond and R.J. Luis of St John’s.

Takeaway #1: Extraordinary defense

A fan had to be at the game, not simply see the game on TV, to observe the Johnnies defense truly. The play of both teams on defense was strong, but Shaka Smart stated after the game that the Johnnies were the more aggressive team the whole night.

Ruben Prey. He only played five minutes. He didn’t score points. In the middle of the second half, Ruben Prey came in for Zuby Ejiofor, and the next Marquette possession found Prey one-on-one with star Kam Jones. Jones dribbled left, then right. He spun and headed down the left of the paint. Prey stayed right with him. As Jones went up for his shot, Prey extended his hand. He didn’t block the shot but altered it. The shot missed, and a Johnnie teammate took the rebound.

The game was on the line at the time. Prey’s box score shows but one rebound for his five minutes of work. But when Ejiofor returned and Prey left for the bench, he received an ovation with a loud call, “Great defense, Ruben.”

This is the defense every Johnnie was playing, all the time, even when their assignment didn’t have the ball. Only in the Garden do you see how the team plays, as Coach Smart said admirably, with “incredible violence.”

Takeaway #2: Kadary Richmond plays a “linebacker-infused” game

Yes, this is a quote from Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post (February 5, 2025). It is a complement for the most complete performer on St. John’s. It is not only ten to twelve-foot jumpers that he excels at. It is not only his broad court vision that allows him to find open teammates for opportunities to hit a corner jumper or attack the basket from the opposite side of the court from which he is dribbling.

Richmond is a 6’6” guard with great timing as he defends. He is dedicated to playing defense with the same energy he displays when attacking the basket. As Vaccaro states, “he is the perfect fit for the Johnnies.” And he has demonstrated these performances over the past several games.

But no one is perfect. Richmond hits 10-to-16-foot contested jumpers at a respectable percentage, but fifteen-foot, uncontested free throws? Two for five today. Knowing the seriousness he takes in his performance, fans can be sure he will be on the free throw line a bit before the upcoming Connecticut game.

Takeaway #3: Rebounding

How does your team win when the other team outshoots you? You outrebound them and get more shots at the basket.

The Johnnies only allowed Marquette to take down five offensive rebounds for the entire game. The Golden Eagles put up twenty-five three-point shots. The length of such long-range shooting point shots often creates long rebounds and, in the past, opponents sometimes feasted on these long rebounds. Not this game. The Red Storm was ready to capture most of the missed Golden Eagle shots. A simple statistic: Marquette got five offensive rebounds on 32 missed shots. The Red Storm took down 21 offensive rebounds on 35 misses.

Outlook

If accurate shooting wins games, fans would be saying, “How did this team get to a 20-3 start with finally a win over a quality team? Opposing coaches like Xavier’s Sean Miller, Georgetown’s Ed Cooley, and now Shaka Smart of Marquette have made similar assessments of the Johnnies. It’s not the statistics that predict the outcome of Red Storm matchups; it is the heart of the team, the determination to put in maximum effort and maximum preparation, that makes the difference.

Can we finally become believers? The game at Connecticut on Friday night will genuinely be telling. Matchups may be secondary predictors of performance as this team has defenders on the first team and substitutes who can defend and play with heart. The reemergence of Deivon Smith and his play at the end of the Marquette game suggests that the team’s best is yet to come, and the team’s “take one game at a time” attitude signifies quality performance for the rest of the season.