By Robert Lastella
The Semifinal Friday at the Big East tournament is known for fireworks. In game one of the doubleheader between St. John’s and Seton Hall, the Johnnies– according to Rick Pitino– “Came out like starving dogs ready to play.”
From the opening tip, St. John’s was the more physically dominating squad, scoring their first 20 points of the game in the paint, and although Seton Hall made a late push, it was ultimately the Johnnies who relied on their physicality to finish off the Pirates by a final of 78-68.
While the St. John’s offense fluctuated at times in this one, Pitino believes they relied on their principles, and in the end, the intensity they came out of the gates with paid off.
“We wanted, we've gotten people in foul trouble the whole season by creating movement and going inside first, and Zuby, he only made one bad play at the end. He gave me half the ball. Gotta go score or look to pass it, outside of that, he’s great going back door. They all look for him. So our offense works inside to out, and when you do that, you're going to get fouled. So it was a great performance offensively tonight,” Pitino said.
From the very jump, St. John’s made it clear they were going to attack the paint with a sense of purpose that permeated throughout the contest. Zuby Ejiofor led the Johnnies, finishing with 20 points and 5 rebounds, becoming the first Big East player since Kemba Walker in 2011 to score 20 points in 4 consecutive tournament games, per John Fanta of NBC Sports.
The Paint attack was critical for St. John’s; however, Seton Hall was able to adjust and began to limit entry passes, which slowed down the Johnnie offense. Saint John’s needed a threat from deep, and they found one in the form of Joson Sanon, who finished with 15 points on 3-5 shooting from beyond the arc, also getting fouled on a triple and converting a 4-point play.
Sanon’s 15 points were one off his season high of 16, and although St. John’s used a physical approach at times, his three-point presence played a major factor in the offensive game plan for the Johnnies.
According to Sanon, his shot tonight was “coke butter cheese,” something that bewildered Pitino upon hearing, but somehow made sense and fit perfectly to describe the effort Sanon provided. According to Pitino, he believes Sanon is one of the Johnnies’ most physically gifted players, and his effort against Seton Hall was a mix of that talent, combined with growth.
“Joson’s physically the most talented ballplayer on the team.. He's only going to grow. He made a big-time play down the stretch defensively, and he's grown as a defensive player, and that's exciting, because he's so much better defensively. He's so much better doing other things, but he is a cold-blooded shooter… okay Coke Butter,” Pitino said.
There were times in this game where it looked like St. John’s might falter, as Seton Hall looked to mount a ferocious comeback after they found themselves down by nearly 20 points in the
second half. Seton Hall trailed 55-36 with 9:56 to play. Over the next 6 minutes, things began to change.
The Pirates went on a 20-9 run during that time, holding the Johnnies to just 2 made field goals, and with 4:41 to play, they found themselves down by just 6, 62-56. Budd Clark did his best to will Seton Hall back into it, finishing with a team-high 17 points and 11 assists; however, in the end, the Johnnies slowed him down and finished off the Pirates down the stretch.
St. John’s has battled adversity throughout their season, and in their game against Seton Hall, that was no different. As they have throughout the year, they adapted and overcame their struggles. According to Dillon Michell, the Johnnies have learned throughout the year how to play with a lead, and tonight that came into play in a big way.
“I think we've been through a lot early on in the season. One of the hardest things, like Coach has said to me, is playing with a lead, and that's something we've learned from, we don't want to get to a position where we're down 15, like we have against, you know, Xavier and Seton Hall, and trying to fight back,” Mitchell said.
“So it's just staying level-headed as a team coming together. And it really starts with off-the-court stuff for us, just hanging out all the time, chatting, and just being together. It really helps on the court. So when we get to those positions, we know to trust each other and have each other's back.”
Saturday’s Championship will give St. John’s a chance to win back-to-back Big East tournaments for the first time in its history. There is no definitive way to know if a program has returned to the caliber of its once storied past, and while the championship game could allow the Johnnies to make history, Pitino acknowledges there are levels to the success this program has had.
“And these guys, you know what? They don't understand, because they're young. They're very proud of their accomplishments. But what they don't realize is that St John's in the 60s, 70s, and 80s dominated the East Coast. It was a dominant basketball team from Laphick to Carnesecca that dominated, and then they hibernated like a bear for a while. These guys got them out of hibernation, but Dillon and Jonson don’t realize how good St John's was back in the day. They were a great, great basketball team. They dominated the East Coast.” Pitino said.
The Johnnies will look to make history at 6:30 PM EST on Saturday and will meet UConn in the Championship game, a matchup which will decide what is currently a 1-1 season series split.