After an impressive offensive explosion against Quinnipiac in their 2025-26 debut, St. John’s fell flat on its face in its Garden debut. Rick Pitino’s squad struggled with one thing: playing fundamental defense. This lack of defense was on full display, allowing 103 total points to Alabama, while the Crimson Tide’s star-studded guard trio totaled 63 of those points.

This has been one of the most concerning features of the Red Storm’s play: the guards. Whether it’s been rebounding, as Rick expressed his concern, or now their ability to play consistent defense against some of the country’s best, it’s mandatory come March.

Here are the five takeaways from the first loss of the Red Storm’s early season:

Excellent work forcing fouls, consistent night from the charity stripe

If there’s one glaring issue that was fixed during the offseason, it was consistency at the free-throw line. Last season, St. John’s constantly found trouble late in games when they truly needed those points. The Red Storm have proved in their Michigan exhibition game, along with their first two regular-season games, that the free-throw line is a big chunk of their offense.

Players like Zuby Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins did an excellent job against Alabama drawing fouls, which limited slashing guard Aden Holloway during crunch time and kept projected lottery pick Labaron Philon Jr. capped at four fouls throughout. As a team, the Johnnies shot 28-for-40 (70%) from the line, eclipsing their 22-for-34 (64.7%) performance against Quinnipiac.

Ejiofor has shown the most improvement at the line and with his overall game, incorporating drawing contact with aggressive takes at the basket. His play mirrors NBA superstar and one-time MVP Joel Embiid — a guy who consistently finds himself at the free-throw line to maximize the 76ers’ points.

Guard play must improve if the Red Storm want to succeed

One thing has been consistently clear from Rick Pitino following every single game: the guard play must improve. After their exhibition with Michigan, Pitino stated he needed to see better rebounding efforts from his guards in order to compete, since that’s something his teams have always relied on.

For example, Deivon Smith and Kadary Richmond were key contributors to St. John’s dominance on the glass last season, production that must now be replaced. In the Quinnipiac win, the guards combined for 17 rebounds, but that didn’t satisfy Pitino.

Against Alabama, the rebounding was there, but the defense? Not so much. Alabama’s backcourt was the clear reason for their victory.

“They’re willing learners,” Pitino said. “We told them not to back up, but they did it anyway. Their mindset was they didn’t want to get embarrassed.”

It’s clear that for St. John’s to succeed come March, the guards must grow and acclimate with each other.

Oziyah Sellers has the ability to be an offensive motor… and shows what this team can be

Prior to the clash with the Crimson Tide, Stanford transfer Oziyah Sellers had yet to make his mark for St. John’s. He had a quiet nine points in the opener against Towson, played just eight minutes vs. Michigan before fouling out, and totaled just six points in 23 minutes against Quinnipiac. On Nov. 8, everything changed.

The Red Storm were in desperate need of fuel midway through the second half, and Sellers was exactly that. After scoring just two points through the first half, he locked in and became the guy, posting 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting while adding three rebounds and two assists.

Sellers’ emergence shows one thing: St. John’s has multiple players who can step up and become stars — a complete opposite from last season, when depth was a major concern.

Invest in Ruben Prey stock… NOW!

Ruben Prey is one of the few returners from last season, expected to be serviceable depth behind Ejiofor, but could Prey be more?

While his defense wasn’t above average, he had Pitino’s trust to be on the floor in big moments, hitting a clutch three with seven minutes left to cut Alabama’s lead to 84-82.

Pitino has been high on the Portuguese big man:

“His low-post game is certainly better; he came in here as a non-defender to now being able to guard all five positions.”

With just two games into the season, Prey can continue to grow into a major contributor.

Rick Pitino scheduled these games for a reason… an early wake-up call

People will overreact about this performance, and that’s fine. But to be worried two games into the season is crazy.

Pitino scheduled these games to face NCAA Tournament-level adversity early. Flash back to last March, when the Red Storm were caught off guard by a tough, defensive Arkansas team they weren’t built to handle.

The truth is, SEC teams are a different breed, fast-paced, high-scoring offenses that can drop 80-plus on anyone. St. John’s doesn’t see that often in the Big East, a more physical, smashmouth league.

Pitino knows his team needs these challenges, ones they clearly failed to overcome last season, so he scheduled Alabama, Ole Miss and Kentucky. The Crimson Tide showed exactly what this team must fix.

“At the end of the day, Alabama is a great team,” Pitino said. “When you give up 103 points, you’re not going to win.”

The Red Storm return Nov. 15 against William & Mary, a chance to score triple digits for the second time this season.