After a preseason loss to Michigan, Rick Pitino noted how St. John’s needed to improve defensively.
Similar sentiments were shared last week by the Red Storm coach after his team allowed over 100 regular-season points to Alabama.
Pitino hopes his 13th-ranked team will improve its defense on Saturday evening when William & Mary visits Queens, N.Y.
St. John’s (1-1) allowed an average of 65.8 points last season, when it won 31 games for its best campaign since 1985-86. The only players returning from that team are Zuby Ejiofor, along with reserves Sadiku Ibine Ayo, Ruben Prey and Lefteris Liotopoulos.
With a roster containing six new members, the Red Storm cruised to a 108-74 win over Quinnipiac in its season opener. But last Saturday in front of a large crowd at Madison Square Garden, St. John’s lost 103-96 to the then-No. 15 Crimson Tide.
The Red Storm allowed Alabama to shoot 48.1% from the floor. St. John’s also conceded 54 points in the paint along with 21 fast-break points, as it often allowed the Crimson Tide to easily get inside the paint.
“We played these early games so we can find out where we need to get better,” Pitino said. “And we know we need to get better in one-on-one defense.”
The individual defense particularly was deficient in the final minutes, when the Red Storm were outscored 17-9.
“We made a lot of fundamental mistakes down the stretch,” Pitino said. “We lost this game at the defensive end.”
While Ejiofor collected 27 and 10 rebounds and Bryce Hopkins added 19 points, St. John’s received inconsistent showings from transfers Joson Sanon, Oziyah Sellers and Ian Jackson in the backcourt. The trio combined for 35 points but also shot 12 of 30 from the field and got outplayed by Alabama guards Labaron Philon Jr., Aden Holloway and Latrell Wrightsell.
“I think we were a little bit stagnant,” Ejiofor said. “We didn’t create ball movement. Guys were just standing around watching one guy dribble the ball.”
William & Mary (2-1) is averaging 92.3 points through its first three games under second-year coach Brian Earl and is heading into its only game against a power conference team. The Tribe were picked fourth in the CAA’s preseason poll after going 17-15 last season.
The Tribe were fifth in the CAA in 3-point shooting last season at 35% and are shooting 32.9% this season.
“I am not pounding the desk saying, ‘Shoot more 3s,'” Earl said at media day. “And so, I’m into scoring and stopping the other team from scoring, and so, if we can be the best 2-point-shooting team in the country, shooting the most 2-pointers, we’ll take it.”
The Tribe are coming off a 90-86 loss to Richmond on Tuesday, when it could not complete a rally from a 12-point deficit. The Tribe shot 39.7% from the field but made only 11 of 37 shots (29.7%) from 3-point range.
Kyle Pulliam is their leading scorer at 13.7 points per game, followed by Reese Miller (13.0), who came off the bench to score 18 points on Tuesday while Pulliam added 16.
Miller shot 6 of 17 from the field and is shooting 43.3% while Pulliam is shooting 54.5% after hitting 4 of 9 shots against Richmond.
