There was nothing fairly for St. John’s about Saturday evening’s eke-it-out victory over Ole Miss.
The Johnnies dedicated 20 turnovers, shot 34% from the sector and allowed the struggling Rebels to stay round till the very finish.
However St. John’s escaped with a 63-58 win at Madison Sq. Backyard, largely on the power of an embattled protection that confirmed indicators of enchancment for a lot of the evening.
St. John’s (5-3) restricted Ole Miss (5-4) to simply 36% taking pictures, together with 2-of-16 (13%) on 3-pointers.
The Pink Storm pressured 20 turnovers, main to twenty factors.
And middle Zuby Ejiofor recorded a career-high eight blocks, together with six within the first half.
But Ole Miss trailed by a single possession within the recreation’s ultimate minute, having rallied again from a 14-point deficit within the second half.
St. John’s had taken a 51-37 lead when Sadiku Ibine Ayo made a 3-pointer with 8:06 remaining in regulation.
However Ole Miss answered with a 10-0 run, capped by a pair of Malik Dia free throws that made it a 51-47 recreation with 5:09 to go.
St. John’s and Ole Miss traded baskets and free throws from there, however a 3-pointer by the Rebels’ Ilias Kamardine with 21 seconds left and two extra free throws by Dia on the subsequent possession minimize the Johnnies’ result in 61-58 with 5 seconds remaining.
Joson Sanon and Dylan Darling made a free throw apiece from there to ice the sport.
The sweat-it-out win adopted a 1-2 journey to Las Vegas through which the Johnnies faltered defensively in losses to Iowa State and Auburn. Ejiofor spoke up after the second of these losses.
“It’s gonna be a long year, especially if we don’t pick it up defensively,” Ejiofor recalled telling his teammates. “That’s where it’s going to have to start.”
Ejiofor heeded his personal recommendation early Saturday, recording six blocks within the first half alone.
St. John’s pressured 13 turnovers in that first half, together with 9 steals, which led to 16 factors.
Dillon Mitchell capped an early 13-4 run by breaking apart an errant Patton Pinkins cross and turning right into a transition dunk, giving St. John’s a 17-11 lead 9 minutes into the sport.
4 minutes later, an Ejiofor steal became one other Mitchell dunk, placing the Johnnies up, 25-16. St. John’s led, 33-25, on the break.
Ejiofor completed with 15 factors, 9 rebounds, three steals and the eight blocks.
It occurred, nevertheless, towards an Ole Miss staff that ranks final within the SEC in scoring and that has now misplaced 4 video games in a row.
Ole Miss guard A.J. Storr, who spent his freshman season at St. John’s in 2022-23 earlier than transferring after Rick Pitino’s arrival, scored two factors on 0-of-6 taking pictures and was booed all evening.
SEC groups had been problematic for St. John’s through the Pitino period, having misplaced to Georgia and Arkansas (within the NCAA Match) final season and to Alabama and Auburn this season.
The Johnnies are in the midst of a 17-day stretch through which they play solely twice. They now have every week off till subsequent Saturday’s recreation on the Backyard towards Iona, the place Pitino coached for 3 seasons earlier than taking the St. John’s job in 2023.
