CINCINNATI CINCINNATI — This wasn’t how St. John’s wanted to ring in the new year.
Hours before the ball dropped in Times Square, St. John’s couldn’t get enough of its own shots to fall, or stop Xavier in key stretches for that matter, in losing its Big East opener, 70-60, at the loud and sold-out Cintas Center in Cincinnati.
A slow start to the second half — at both ends of the floor — doomed the Johnnies, who have now lost four of five games this season against major-conference foes.
Xavier, in its first ever Big East conference game, came out of the half on fire, ripping off a 13-0 run and making seven of its first nine shots to build a 40-29 lead. St. John’s, meanwhile, didn’t score over the first 5:00 of the half, missing its first six shots.
“That was a big turning point in the game,” St. John’s junior D’Angelo Harrison said. “We came out slow, they came out ready to play. We didn’t match their intensity and that’s how they got the lead.”
The Red Storm (9-4) did get within striking distance down the stretch, trailing 50-46 after a Rysheed Jordan layup with 6:14 left, but never got closer.
Xavier (11-3) had its way inside, out-scoring St. John’s 40-18 in the paint and out-rebounding the Johnnies 45-38 en route to its sixth straight victory. It shot 56 percent in the second half, the highest percentage St. John’s has allowed in a half this season.
“Defensively is what killed us,” St. John’s coach Steve Lavin said. “They pounded us on the boards and they got out in transition. They did the three things we were able to stop in the first half.”
The Musketeers spread St. John’s out, patiently waiting for the best shot to present itself and taking advantage of the Red Storm being “all over the court,” according to senior forward Isaiah Philmore,
“Being more disciplined definitely helped us,” Philmore said.
Despite not starting, Jordan scored a career-high 17 points while Harrison led St. John’s with 21 points, though he only shot 7-of-20 from the field. After a strong first half, JaKarr Sampson was held to two points in the second half, finishing with 10 points while shooting just 5-of-15.
St. John’s made 7-of-14 3-point attempts, but only 14-of-54 2-pointers, a 26 percent clip, and shot 31 percent overall from the field. The Red Storm had nine shots rejected and took a number of either quick shots or off-balanced ones against the teeth of the Xavier defense.
“You want to pass out of a crowd, not dribble or shoot in a crowd. There were times in a crowd we shot the ball or dribbled it, [and it] either got stolen or it was a low-percentage shot,” Lavin said. “As basic as it was, like CYO basketball, it’s still something you have to emphasize with 18-to-22-year-olds.”
Dynamic sophomore Semaj Christon had 10 points, eight assists and five rebounds for Xavier and Justin Martin scored 15.
Lavin surprisingly started reserve forward God’sgift Achiuwa, who entered the contest averaging 8.7 minutes per game, to match up with Xavier center Matt Stainbrook, the reigning Big East Player of the Week. The move worked early, as Xavier began ice cold against the St. John’s matchup zone, without a point over the first 6:32 and held to seven points 11:19 into the half.
St. John’s didn’t take advantage of the Musketeers’ offensive futility, however, as Xavier trailed by just two points at the break despite missing its first 11 shots.
“We got to capitalize, especially on the road because you get down on the road it’s hard to come back,” Harrison said. “We should’ve extended the lead.”