St. John's no match for No. 19 Vanderbilt
St. John's forward Ron Mvouika (24) and Vanderbilt forward Jeff Roberson, right, battle for the ball in the second half during a game in the first round of the Maui Invitational on Monday, Nov. 23, 2015, in Lahaina, Hawaii. Credit: AP / Rick Bowmer
LAHAINA, Hawaii -- The Chris Mullin Era at St. John's suffered its first setback. And it was a big one.
The Red Storm couldn't stop Vanderbilt yesterday, as the 19th-ranked Commodores shot 53 percent from the field, including 48 percent from three-point range, in a 92-55 win in the opening round of the Maui Invitational.
Vanderbilt scored the game's first nine points en route to taking a 30-5 lead and going ahead by 41 points with 2:31 to play. The Red Storm nearly suffered the worst loss in school history. St. John's worst loss was to Kentucky, 81-40, on Dec. 17, 1951.
After beating Wagner, UMBC and Rutgers to open the season, St. John's was no match for Vanderbilt, which held a 49-26 rebounding edge.
"You have to learn from a game like this and move on," Mullin said. "It was their length that hurt us. That was the best team we played against."
The first-year coach was able to find one bright spot: "We only had eight turnovers."
Freshman point guard Federico Mussini led the Red Storm with 14 points. Durand Johnson added 10 points and three steals and Christian Jones scored eight points, all in the first half.
St. John's played without freshman guard Malik Ellison (foot) and junior college transfer forward Darien Williams (shoulder).
The Commodores made it back-to-back wins against New York teams, having come back from a 10-point deficit to earn a 79-72 overtime win over visiting Stony Brook on Thursday night.
In going ahead 30-5, Vanderbilt made 10 of its first 18 shots from the field. St. John's was 2-for-18 during that span.
The lead got as high as 48-15 with 3:39 to play in the first half, and the Commodores led 53-24 at the break.
"I don't think you ever anticipate a game like that," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. "We had a lot of people play well and we shot the ball well."
Jeff Roberson had 11 points and 13 rebounds for Vanderbilt. Luke Kornet, one of Vanderbilt's three 7-footers, had 13 points and seven rebounds, and Camron Justice added 11 points.
"Rebounding is a lot about mentality," Kornet said. "I just tried to be as much of a physical presence as I could around the goal."
Depth certainly was an issue, as Vanderbilt's subs outscored St. John's 26-0 in the first half.
St. John's (3-1) faces Indiana in the consolation round today. Vanderbilt (4-0) plays Wake Forest in the semifinals.
"It's about what happens from here," Mullin said. "How do we come back from this? We'll watch film tonight and come back tomorrow."
