St. John’s held Xavier to 42 percent shooting in its own building. The Red Storm forced 19 turnovers and corralled two more offensive rebounds. Usually, that’s a formula for a road victory — or at least being in the game in the final seconds.
But not when you shoot 34 percent and make only one 3-pointer yourself. Ultimately, that’s what cost St. John’s in Sunday’s eight-point loss to the Musketeers and has been the reason the Johnnies have a sub-.500 record (2-3) in five games against power-conference opponents.
“Once we get our stops, we just got to make sure we’re getting good shots. Once we get to the basket, we got to finish at point-blank range and we have to make open shots,” leading scorer Mustapha Heron said in a phone interview from Washington, as St. John’s prepared to face Georgetown on Wednesday night (6:30 p.m., FS1, WNYM). “I definitely think we got looks we shoot every day in practice [against Xavier]. We just got to hit them when we get those shots.”
In those five aforementioned games, when there are fewer opportunities around the basket, St. John’s has yet to shoot better than 37 percent from the field. The Red Storm also shot 34 percent in the Big East-opening loss to No. 11 Butler at home and hit 4-of-22 from deep. It’s a concerning trend, even if the Johnnies were able to knock off No. 17 West Virginia and No. 24 Arizona without shooting well. As a team, St. John’s is shooting 29.2 percent from 3-point range, which is ranked 323rd in the country. It is shooting 41.7 altogether, ranked 278th. And it is making only 69.8 percent of its free throws, ranked 178th.
“I just know we’re a much better shooting team [than we’ve showed],” first year coach Mike Anderson said after the Xavier loss.
Pressure defense, this team’s calling card, can only carry the Johnnies so far. The offense needs to be able to produce better numbers. That onus falls upon Heron and LJ Figueroa, the All-Big East preseason second team selections.
St. John’s (11-4, 0-2 Big East) went 11-2 in the non-conference portion of its schedule without either player being at his best, a credit to the inexperienced supporting cast. But now that league season has begun, St. John’s needs more from both. Figueroa didn’t score in the loss to Butler and while he produced 17 points against Xavier, it took him 16 shots to do so. Heron, meanwhile, made his return from a three-game absence due to a sprained ankle, and was held to 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting.
Both players are averaging similar scoring numbers as a year ago, though they are doing it much more inefficiently, with their shooting percentages way down. They are now the focus of opposing defenses, not supporting players.
“As a leader, I feel I have to do [more], but that doesn’t assume taking every shot or taking a lot of shots,” Heron said. “It’s all a matter of once we get into the game, we have to lock in and hit those shots. We’re playing good enough defense to beat anyone in the country.”
Despite these two losses to start the league season, St. John’s remains upbeat, full of belief in itself and convinced the offense will come around. The Johnnies did face two of the league’s best defensive teams in Xavier and Butler. Georgetown is last in the league in points allowed (72.6) and 3-point percentage defense (35.2).
“We’re not going to define ourselves by two games in the league. We’re in high spirits,” Heron said. “I don’t think our confidence is going anywhere.”