On campus

On the surface, St. John’s did what it had to do in dispatching South Florida, 69-54, Wednesday night at Carnesecca Arena. If the Red Storm wanted to have any chance of receiving an NCAA bid, it had to win the most winnable game left on its regular-season schedule against the worst team in the Big East.

It wasn’t pretty in the second half. After taking a 22-point lead, the Red Storm (16-10,...

St. John’s three-guard offense essentially was reduced to a one-guard offense by Georgetown in its 68-56 victory over the Red Storm on Saturday afternoon at Washington’s Verizon Center. D’Angelo Harrison was held to a career-low two points, and Jamal Branch suffered a left knee sprain with just over 17 minutes to go after scoring only two points, leaving only Phil Greene among the starting backcourt...

On media day, St. John’s coach Steve Lavin said leading scorer D’Angelo Harrison was going to be his point guard because good things happen when you put the ball in his hands. But when the Red Storm opened Big East play Wednesday night at Villanova’s Pavilion, Lavin inserted transfer Jamal Branch as the starter at the point in a three-guard lineup with Harrison and Phil Greene.

The results...

If there was one cautionary note about St. John’s season-opening 77-74 win over Detroit Tuesday afternoon at Carnesecca Arena, it was that the rotation looked suspiciously like last season’s undermanned edition. Coach Steve Lavin used only seven players, one more than the six scholarship players who battled the numbers game during a 13-19 slog a year ago.

The returnees included leading scorer...