Rick Pitino didn’t know what to expect.
If his team was ready for this kind of test. If St. John’s was prepared to play as well as it needed to against its first quality opponent.
His players provided him with a resounding answer.
A year ago, the Johnnies didn’t show up in an ugly loss at the Garden to Michigan. They distinguished themselves far better this time inside MSG, leading almost wire to wire in a commanding 85-71 victory over New Mexico and Pitino’s son, Richard. In the final seconds, chants of, “Who’s your daddy!” rang out.
“We were ready today,” Rick Pitino said.
No. 22 St. John’s raced out to a 16-point lead, saw the advantage cut to four and controlled the final minutes to improve to 4-0 ahead of a challenging trip to the Bahamas next week that starts against No. 12 Baylor on Thursday night.
All five starters scored in double figures. St. John’s held New Mexico star guard Donovan Dent to 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting, crushed the Lobos on the glass by 17, and outscored them by 10 in the paint and by eight in second-chance points.
RJ Luis was the best player on the floor, notching 21 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high seven assists. Luis, healthy after shin splints hindered him a season ago, also defended Dent for most of the second half, using his length to frustrate the speedy guard.
“I think he’s a potential NBA player — size, skill, multi-positional,” Richard Pitino said. “I think he’s a legit NBA prospect. We didn’t do a great job on him, but a lot of that was him just being a really good player.”
Kadary Richmond stepped up his aggression and followed with 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. Deivon Smith added 15 points and five rebounds, Aaron Scott had 14 and six boards, and Zuby Ejiofor snapped out of his early-season funk to tally 13 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. If not for 16 St. John’s turnovers, the margin would’ve been even wider.
“I think we’re a good, solid basketball team, but I think we have greatness potential,” Rick Pitino said. “We’re just solid now.”
A dominant first half ended poorly for the Johnnies (4-0), with New Mexico (3-1) reeling off the final five points to get within 11 at the break. It was only a four-point game after former Iona University star Nelly Junior Joseph (16 points) scored inside with 8:01 to go, New Mexico with all of the momentum. But St. John’s answered, as it had all afternoon, with a 9-2 burst. Scott hit a 3-pointer off a scramble to get it started.
“I had an open 3 and confidence is key,” said the North Texas transfer, a team-best plus-18 in 33 minutes. “I don’t know what I went from 3, 2-for-7? I wasn’t hitting, but confidence is key. My teammates, my coaches give me a lot of confidence and I made the 3.”
Ejiofor followed with two free throws, and Richmond sank a baby jumper and set up Scott for a layup. It was back to an 11-point lead and only 5:02 was left on the clock.
From there, it was a formality. St. John’s was going to pass its first test with ease.
“We needed a little challenge like that,” Luis said, “heading into the Bahamas.”
