There was a clear directive from Rick Pitino on Tuesday:
Let it fly.
The St. John’s coach didn’t care that the Johnnies had shot just 25 percent from 3-point range over the previous six games.
They weren’t taking enough of them, averaging just 16.6 per game during that span.
Against DePaul, that changed.
St. John’s attempted a season-high 40 3-pointers and made 15 of them, keying a much-needed 85-57 blowout of Big East punching bag DePaul at UBS Arena.
“I wanted movement and I wanted them to take open shots,” Pitino said. “I didn’t want them to count their misses. [DePaul] is looking at the stat sheet, saying give us the outside shot. I want them to take it. I’ll take 40 3s, if they can shoot 37 percent. I’ll take that almost every night.”
The 15 made 3-pointers were St. John’s most this season and a league record for the program.
Daniss Jenkins, Brady Dunlap, Simeon Wilcher and Jordan Dingle all hit multiple 3-point shots as part of the barrage.
Of the four, the most important contributions came from Dingle, who had 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The nation’s second-leading scorer a season ago while at Penn, Dingle has mostly underwhelmed this season.
But this was certainly a step in the right direction, hitting 4 of 10 3-pointers after going 0-for-11 in the previous three games.
“I wasn’t upset at Jordan Dingle for going 0-for-11, I was upset that he didn’t try to go 0-for-25,” Pitino said. “He was counting his misses and not moving enough to [get] the shots. I’ve been with him with every player development drill. He sets all types of records on his shooting. I felt tonight, he came out and missed the first two or three, and made it happen, and we need that because he’s a great shooter.”
St. John’s (14-9, 6-6) clearly needs the 6-foot-3 guard if it’s going to finish strong and reach the NCAA Tournament.
There’s been too much put on Jenkins’ shoulders, capable as he may be.
In Saturday’s loss to No. 1 Connecticut, the Johnnies didn’t have an answer when the Huskies made a concerted effort to turn Jenkins into a distributor rather than a scorer.
“It gives us a different dynamic. Jordan is an unbelievable scorer,” said Jenkins, who had 14 points. “As long as we keep learning how to move and play with each other, the points will take care of themself and his shots will fall.”
Said Dingle: “I don’t think that there’s a more supportive group that I’ve ever been around in my life, as far as my teammates and coaching staff. I just need to step up and continue to do my job.”
The Blue Demons (3-20, 0-12), the lowest-rated power-conference school in the country according to KenPom.com, were a perfect antidote to what was ailing the Red Storm.
They had lost five of the previous six games, suffering losses to the Big East’s big three of No. 1 Connecticut, No. 7 Marquette and No. 19 Creighton.
DePaul provided a respite, an easy win before a monster two-game road trip to Marquette and Providence.
The bench, a weakness of late, poured in 38 points — nine each from Nahiem Alleyne and Sean Conway and eight from Wilcher.
On-the-bubble St. John’s crushed DePaul on the glass, outrebounding the Blue Demons by 17. It forced 19 turnovers that resulted in 26 points. K.T. Raimey had 11 points for DePaul
“We definitely started going in the right direction tonight,” Jenkins said. “We executed exactly what the game plan was.”
After an uneven first half, the Johnnies finally created separation on the strength of an 11-2 run early in the second half after back-to-back 3-pointers from Jenkins.
It forced a DePaul timeout with the Red Storm lead up to a then-game-high 19 with 12:49 remaining.
After an Alleyne 3-pointer, Jenkins scored eight consecutive points for St. John’s, taking charge after a quiet start offensively. It opened the floodgates.
Soon, the lead was 25 after consecutive 3-pointers from Dunlap.
A team in need of a laugher got one.
