Two extra ranked losses did some harm to St. John’s within the AP ballot.
St. John’s fell to No. 23 within the newest rating after shedding to Iowa State and Auburn final week.
The Johnnies’ nine-spot drop from final week’s No. 14 rating was the most important of any college within the prime 25.
After starting the season ranked No. 5, St. John’s is 4-3, with all three defeats coming in opposition to ranked opponents.
“I take it one day at a time,” head coach Rick Pitino stated final week. “I’ve been through this before. Defensively, we have a lot of work to do. We can get there, but it’s going to take a different mindset. Scoring is not the ultimate. It’s defense, and you have to buy in.”
Iowa State was ranked No. 15 when it beat St. John’s, 83-82, to open the Gamers Period Championship in Las Vegas. Auburn was No. 20 when it topped the Crimson Storm, 85-74, within the comfort spherical of the event.
The three losses are almost as many as St. John’s totaled all of final season, when it went 31-5 and gained the Large East’s outright regular-season and convention event championships.
The momentum from that resurgent season, coupled with what many touted as the perfect switch class within the nation, prompted sky-high expectations for St. John’s.
However St. John’s stays a piece in progress after just one starter — senior ahead/heart Zuby Ejiofor — returned from the 2024-25 workforce.
“We’ve just got to stay focused and learn how to win together as a team,” stated reserve ahead Sadiku Ibine Ayo, a senior in his third yr at St. John’s. “We’ve got a bunch of new guys and we’re still figuring out how to play with each other. At the end of the day, we’ve got to win.”
No. 6 UConn is the Large East’s solely different ranked workforce.
St. John’s additionally misplaced to then-No. 15 Alabama at Madison Sq. Backyard within the second recreation of the season.
The Johnnies will try and get proper once they face unranked Ole Miss (5-2) on the Backyard on Saturday night time. St. John’s is 4-0 in opposition to unranked opponents, together with beating Baylor within the center recreation of the event in Vegas.
“It was a disappointing trip,” Pitino stated. “We’ve got to regroup against a very good Ole Miss team now that we’re 0-2 against the SEC.”
