No. 14 St. John’s looked to rescue their early season Las Vegas sabbatical in the second game of the Player’s Era Championship against the Baylor Bears.
Disappointment struck the Johnnies in their first Vegas game, losing a nail-biter to No. 15 Iowa State by just one point. In addition to their loss to the Cyclones, Baylor and St. John’s last matchup added a little more emotional baggage to this game; almost a full year ago, Jeremy Roach’s buzzer-beating three-point heave may still haunt Coach Rick Pitino to this day.
With a chance to rebound from a heartbreaking loss and kick the ghosts of season’s past, St. John’s needed to pull out a victory against the Bears.
Shirking off any lingering emotions after the previous night’s loss, Oziyah Sellers (22 pts, 5-7, 3PT) picked up right where he left off. Following up his 20 point performance against Iowa State, Sellers shot a perfect 3/3 from three to start the first half; scoring St. John’s first six points and leading the team in scoring for the first half.
The Johnnies led 21-6 seven minutes into play, scoring at ease whenever they wanted to. Bryce Hopkins (26 pts, 5 rebs, 3-3 3PT) attacked the post while Sellers and Ian Jackson (14 pts, 3 rebs) sniped from three-point range.
A combination of forced shot selection and tenacious defense caused Baylor’s atrocious 3-19 shooting numbers to start the contest. Isaac Williams (14 pts, 5-11 FG) provided some relief for the Bears with back-to-back layups that revived their offense and stopped the early scoring drought.
Baylor’s 23 point-per-game scorer Cameron Carr (27 pts, 8-15 FG) officially stopped the bleeding by scoring eight points in three possessions, cutting the St. John’s lead to single digits at 23-16.
The Red Storm maintained this comfortable cushion, largely in part to Dillon Mitchell’s (18 pts, 6 rebs, 6 asts) hustle play on both sides of the court. Six of his eight first half points came in the final three minutes and on fast break opportunities.
St. John’s led 43-34 going into halftime due to this fastbreak dominance, scoring 13 points in transition and using their size for a 20-14 scoring advantage in the paint, despite being destroyed in the offensive rebounding front by Baylor 17-3.
In a poetic rhyme of the first half’s opening minutes, the Johnnies began the second half with a scoring onslaught started by a Sellers three-pointer. The first eight points of the half went to St. John’s with the scoring tandem of Sellers and Hopkins allowing for momentum to build as their lead climbed to 51-34.
Pitino’s offense ran a very different style of play in the second half, focusing on scoring from beyond the arc and feeding Hopkins, whose ten second half points pushed the lead to 63-45 with 11 minutes to go.
More three point marksmanship from Jackson gifted the Johnnies their first 20 point lead, controlling the game by a score of 82-60.
This lead never dipped below 15, allowing for the Johnnies to coast to the end of this game earning a 96-81 win in their second game in Sin City.
The Johnnies won’t know who they will face on Nov. 26 until after all games are played, but a win guarantees that this trip is extended by at least one more day.
