St. John’s should leave town with plenty of confidence.
Before heading to Orlando for the AdvoCare Invitational — the Red Storm open the three-game tournament on Thanksgiving against Oregon State — St. John’s finishes their season-opening homestand Monday night against Division II Molloy at Carnesecca Arena, with the opportunity to win four straight games for the first time in the Chris Mullin coaching era.
St. John’s (3-0) last achieved a four-game winning streak just before reaching the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
Coming off their most impressive performance of the season — a 79-56 win over Nebraska in the Gavitt Tipoff Games — the Red Storm have showcased the best defense in Mullin’s three seasons, allowing a Big East-best 57.3 points per game and holding opponents to 35.8 percent shooting from the field, while ranking in the top 20 in the nation in turnovers forced (19.3).
With only nine scholarship players available, the Red Storm don’t have much depth, but Tariq Owens’ contributions off the bench have been one of the biggest reasons for the team’s fast start.
“Tariq’s probably our most important player,” Mullin said of the 6-foot-11 forward. “The only reason I take him off the bench is because he can play any position. No matter who, if someone gets hurt, or someone’s in foul trouble, it doesn’t matter if it’s Marcus [LoVett], Shamorie [Ponds], it doesn’t matter. He can go in and our lineup is fine.”
After sitting out a season as a transfer from Tennessee, Owens led the Big East with 2.2 blocks per game last season. In the win over Nebraska, the junior big man again was the team’s defensive catalyst, tying a career-high with six blocks, while adding nine rebounds — tying his fourth-best mark since joining St. John’s — and six points.
Most importantly, Owens, who struggled with foul trouble last season — fouling out seven times, and averaging 3.2 fouls per game, limiting him to 18.8 minutes — has recorded a total of seven fouls through three games, and averaged 23 minutes in the Red Storm’s three lopsided wins.
Entering Sunday, Owens was ranked 15th in the nation with 3.3 blocks per game.
“He’s the anchor of our defense,” Mullin said. “His blocks, they’re great blocks, because he’s in the right place. He’s not drifting away, he’s always in the help position, talking, clogging up the middle.
“I think, to me, he kind of makes everything go, and he’s pretty freakish athletically. He can do everything.”