March Madness: 5 keys for St. John's vs. Duke in the Sweet 16
St. John's Zuby Ejiofor handles the ball during a practice session ahead of the Sweet 16 in the East Regional of the NCAA men's basketball tournament on Thursday in Washington, D.C. Credit: Getty Images/Patrick Smith
WASHINGTON — St. John’s will be playing in its first Sweet 16 game in 27 years and faces a very formidable opponent in overall No. 1 seed Duke (34-2). The No. 5 Red Storm (30-6) will be going against a Blue Devils team that has a lot of size and is ranked No. 1 in adjusted defense and No. 7 in adjusted offense.
Here are five keys for St. John’s in Friday’s game at Capital One Arena:
1. Ball pressure
Duke starting point guard Caleb Foster had foot surgery on March 8 and, though he has rejoined practices the past two days, might not be 100%. Cayden Boozer has filled in with success, but the Blue Devils have turned the ball over 18 more times than their opponents in their last five games with Foster sidelined. St. John’s may be playing its best defense at this point. Kansas had trouble even getting the ball inbounds against the Red Storm’s press.
2. Wrangle sharpshooting Isaiah Evans
Zuby Ejiofor will need to deal with Cameron Boozer, potentially the next NBA No. 1 draft pick, but someone is going to have to limit the outside game of second-leading scorer Isaiah Evans. His forte is making three-pointers. He’s a fair slasher as well, but he can be streaky. The Red Storm cannot afford to let him get hot.
3. Crash the glass
St. John’s surrendered a 14-point lead before beating Kansas on Sunday by failing to get defensive rebounds and allowing the Jayhawks second chances. Duke has far too potent an offense to give it extra cracks at the basket. On the other end, the Red Storm are going to need all the chances they can get, so offensive rebounds could be nearly as important.
4. Win the three-point battle again
The Red Storm outscored Northern Iowa 30-9 from outside the three-point line, then used it again against tall, shot-blocking Kansas and won it 33-15. Duke is even bigger than Kansas, and coach Rick Pitino said Thursday, “This team needs to win the three-point battle every night to have a chance to win [while] we’re not a three-point shooting team . . . We do because we have deficiencies elsewhere. We’re a very poor two-point shooting team.”
5. Take advantage of Duke’s youth
St. John’s is largely a team of seasoned veterans. The Blue Devils are laden with underclassmen. Though Duke has played an incredibly tough schedule, won 18 of 20 Quad 1 games and been in a few close games, St. John’s could thrive if the score and the stage make the young Blue Devils uncomfortable.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
