St. John's digs early hole, can't get out in loss to No. 22 Xavier
St. John's forward David Jones puts up a shot past Xavier guard Colby Jones in the second half of an NCAA Big East men's basketball game at Carnesecca Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Red Storm was the team it wanted to be for only the final 10 minutes, when it shaved a lead that had been as big as 18 to five in the final minute. If only it had played that way during the first 30 when it dug a hole deep enough to set the foundation for an 84-79 Big East loss before 4,368 at Carnesecca Arena.
“We kind of dug ourselves a hole in that first half,” Storm coach Mike Anderson said. “The loose balls and the extra effort — they were making the plays. They dominated us in rebounding in the first half. The extra effort plays went their way in the first half.
“I thought we didn’t play great but we fought to the bitter end.”
Xavier (11-3, 3-0) used an early 16-0 run for a 27-12 lead en route to a 48-37 edge at the break and then pushed the margin to 67-49 when Jack Nunge scored on a nice inside move with 10:33 to play. That’s when St. John’s (11-3, 1-2) finally found the effort that comes with urgency.
There was a hustle-filled 11-0 run to cut it to 69-63 on a Posh Alexander putback with 6:42 to play that put a charge into the home crowd. David Jones made a three-pointer from the top of the arc with 26 seconds to play to get St. John’s within 84-79. The Storm never got it to a one-possession game.
“It was just the sense of urgency: we saw the score and where the time was,” Joel Soriano said. “We didn’t want to lose. We had to try to protect our home court.”
Jones finished with 19 points, Joel Soriano and Montez Mathis each scored 14 points and Alexander had 11 for St. John’s, which shot just 43% from the floor, were outrebounded 45-36 and let Xavier turn 13 offensive rebounds into 14 points.
Nunge had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Souley Boum had 17 points and six assists and Zach Freemantle had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Musketeers.
St. John’s played one of the 20 weakest non-conference schedules, according to metrics on Kenpom.com. And though they won their Big East opener against scuffling DePaul, the Storm wasted a good start and lost by 15 on the road to a more physical Villanova last weekend. Xavier’s passion to play physical was a difference-maker Wednesday.
“Obviously in the Big East, it gets more intense, more physical,” Anderson said. “Look at Villanova: they got physical and it changed the game. . . . We have to continue to master the physicality of the game.”
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.
