The No. 5 St. John’s Men’s Basketball team closed out their final preseason exhibition game against the No. 7 Michigan Wolverines in the Bad Boy Mowers Series under the lights of Madison Square Garden. This was a box office matchup that promised fans of both sides a thrilling teaser for the rapidly approaching regular season.
While the Johnnies were on the losing side of the 96-94 final score, the reigning Big East champions should be satisfied by their strong effort against such a formidable opponent, especially in a game that doesn’t impact their record.
This heavyweight bout had the explosive start that many expected, as the Wolverines and Johnnies traded initial buckets to open the contest. But the Johnnies settled into familiar offensive struggles, as seen in their first exhibition game against Towson.
More specifically, Michigan’s big ticket transfer Yaxel Lendeborg’s (25 pts, 10 rebs, 4 asts.) six points single-handedly equaled St. John’s scoring total in the opening seven minutes.
The struggling offense was quickly rejuvenated by newfound spark-plug Dylan Darling, who forced two Michigan offensive fouls after checking in and nailed a retaliatory three-pointer on the other end. This energetic sequence brought the Johnnies to within one point of the Wolverines’ 16-15 lead with 10 minutes to go in the first half.
A meager one-possession advantage was swapped between the two teams for the remainder of the first half, with Joson Sanon’s 10 points keeping the Johnnies within striking distance.
Four of Sanon’s points came from the free-throw line, a trend that the Johnnies offense adopted. St. John’s shot 10-11 from the charity-stripe as a team in the first half and 32-41 overall, showing improvement in one of their biggest flaws last season.
“Biologically we are a much better free-throw shooting team this year,” Coach Rick Pitino had to offer in the post-game press conference. Improving on something as small as free-throws is indicative of the culture shift brought to St. John’s by eight new players.
Another new face for Michigan, Elliot Cadeau, ended the even first half with a deep shot from behind the arc to tighten the Johnnies’ 35-34 lead, a fitting end to a half that saw transfer acquisitions star the brightest.
St. John’s score-by-committee approach was disrupted by a scoring explosion in the front court. Big East Preseason Player of the Year Zuby Ejiofor (24 pts, 6 rebs, 6 ast.) and his new running mate Dillon Mitchell (13 pts, 8 rebs) combined for the team’s first eight points of the half, helping maintain a fragile lead while showing consistency on the low block.
A five-point 57-52 lead was the biggest cushion St. John’s had for the night, as Michigan’s methodical but steady offense always had an answer to stay competitive.
As the game inched closer and closer to the final buzzer both offenses were lulled into free-throw complacency, with the pace of play slowing to a crawl and fouls occurring just about every possession. Both teams combined for exactly 54 fouls, four total players fouled out including St. John’s players Sanon, Ejiofor and Oziyah Sellers, with 36 total free-throws being taken in the second half.
An overall slower pace allowed for the Wolverines and Lendeborg to regain control, usurping the five point advantage from St. John’s as they led 72-67 with five minutes remaining in regulation.
But the pendulum swung back to the Red Storm thanks to the swiss army knife Dillion Mitchell’s two-way heroics; a one-handed contact slam and a pivotal defensive rebound in back-to-back possessions were enough for St. John’s to regain a late game lead.
Entering a heavily contested final five minutes of play, the referees let both sides play on and all 13,287 fans in attendance got their money’s worth. Neither team refused to miss in this closing act as 19 total points of offense were scored in the last five minutes of regulation.
The basketball gods seemed to enjoy this matchup so much that they decided 40 minutes of play wasn’t enough, the game was sent to overtime at a staggering 84-84 stalemate.
The extra five minutes of free basketball was just as action-packed as regulation, with unexpected hero Lefteris Liotopoulos scoring nine of his 13 points for St. John’s over a two minute stretch.
Liotopoulos’ had a chance to continue this clutch performance and be the savior of the night after drawing a foul while shooting a three-pointer, sending him to the free-throw line down 95-93 with three free-throws to shoot and eight quick seconds on the clock.
The sophomore drained the first but proceeded to miss his final two shots, effectively ending the game with such little time left for a potential comeback.
“I don’t blame things like missed free-throws,” Coach Pitino said concerning the unsuccessful last-minute rally. “I’m so happy with not necessarily the results, but we found out where we need to get better and where we need to work.”
Pitino cited the Red Storm’s lackluster rebounding, among other factors, as a major area for improvement. They were out-rebounded 48-36 by the Wolverines, a far cry from the rebounding dominance of last season’s team.
St. John’s and Coach Pitino have another week of practice to iron out potential problems, such as the rebounding issues, before the regular season officially kicks off against Quinnipiac University on Nov. 3 in Carnesecca Arena.
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