St. John's routed by Seton Hall
Sir'Dominic Pointer of St. John's tries to get the ball from Herb Pope of Seton Hall in the second half. (Feb. 14, 2012) Credit: Errol Anderson
NEWARK -- During the offseason, it was St. John's that had the gaudy numbers when it came to its highly ranked recruiting class. Seton Hall was considered an also-ran in the recruiting wars.
But it was the Pirates who had the best numbers when they renewed their Big East rivalry Tuesday night at Prudential Center. That starts with the number of upperclassmen on their roster and the fact that their regular rotation went 10 deep compared to just six players, all of them newcomers for the Red Storm.
It sure looked as if St. John's kids, for all the heart they have shown under trying circumstances, simply are out of gas at this stage of the season. Seton Hall led by as many as 34 points on its way to a 94-64 thumping of the Red Storm, and the Pirates hit 15 three-pointers, including a 10 of 12 performance from beyond the arc in the second half.
Summing up the game, St. John's assistant Mike Dunlap, who is leading the Red Storm on its hard trek while Steve Lavin continues his modified schedule after prostate cancer surgery, said the "best of times" was when the Storm cut the deficit to 16-15 midway in the first half. "The worst of times," Dunlap added, "was our inability to get anything else going. We got it down to 15 in the second half, and they hit three threes and that was the end of our pushback."
Dunlap was referring to the point that St. John's (10-16, 4-10 Big East) cut the deficit to 58-43 only to see Seton Hall (18-8, 7-7) explode on a 20-4 run that included five three-point shots and a conventional three-point play for a 78-47 lead. Another three a few minutes later pushed the Pirates' lead to its high-water mark at 85-34.
Senior guard Jordan Theodore led the way with 16 points, including four baskets beyond the arc, and 10 assists. Senior center Herb Pope had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Then came the Pirates' unheralded freshmen Aaron Cosby (14 points, 5 assists), Brandon Mobley (14 points, 9 rebounds) and Haralds Karlis (13 points).
All five St. John's starters scored in double figures, including Moe Harkless with 15 and 11 rebounds, D'Angelo Harrison and Sir'Dominic Pointer with 12 each and Phil Greene and Amir Garrett with 10 apiece. God'sgift Achiuwa added five in 24 minutes off the bench, and even in such a blowout Dunlap used those six for all but six minutes of playing time.
"It's hard with six guys, but we've got to stick with it through tough times," Greene said. "It's hard to have short bodies and long games and long practices, but it gets us prepared for the long run. We've got to grow up now."
Because St. John's is short-handed, it tries to pack the middle on defense and force teams to beat them over the top. Seton Hall did that coach Kevin Willard said by doing a god job of penetrating and then kicking outside to open shooters. "We had to pick our poison," Greene said, "and they made them."
