After nearly a month, St. John’s returned to the Mecca, earning themselves an unrewarding and worrisome 63–58 victory over Ole Miss. The Red Storm can now successfully say they’ve defeated an SEC team after falling to Alabama and Auburn in the weeks leading up. With the win, the Red Storm find themselves sitting at 5–3, with just three more nonconference games remaining.
With that, here are five takeaways from the win.
Ian Jackson OR Dylan Darling?
It’s time for Ian Jackson to escape the shadows of the bench; he has consistently proven that he is capable of providing exceptional offense, along with much-improved defense.
In the win over Ole Miss, Jackson totaled seven points. Although he shot 2-for-11, he made impactful plays with the starters throughout the first half. Dylan Darling has failed to provide St. John’s with startable minutes, again committing a foul and turnover within the first several minutes, just like he had in each of the games during the Players Era Tournament.
Darling, as mentioned in past games, provides the Red Storm with a spark off the bench, one that has been completely dimmed during his time as a starter. It has also been clear that Oziyah Sellers has begun showcasing a vast improvement in terms of creating plays.
Darling did show signs of life through the final minutes of the game, scoring six of the team’s last eight points.
“I think he did a lot of good things,” said Pitino on Ian Jackson. “He should have kept shooting, he drove to the basket when he had wide-open shots.”
The rotation has remained similar over the last several games but could potentially see a shake-up as Big East play approaches.
Zuby Ejiofor had HOW many blocks???
Zuby Ejiofor became just the fourth player in St. John’s history to total eight blocks in a contest. The last time a Johnnie did so? Tyriq Owens in 2018. Ejiofor has been the anchor to the Red Storm’s defensive success this season, although there have been struggles.
Ejiofor was a presence in the paint throughout the contest, totaling six of his eight blocks in the first half, along with just two first-half points.
“He didn’t let frustrations stand in,” said Rick Pitino. “He didn’t even think about the fact that he only had two points. He just kept grinding and grinding, he’s easy to coach.”
The senior center has been a voice for the team, using it to emphasize how important defensive success is for the team to succeed. Pitino also said how often Ejiofor brings up the fact that the team’s defense was their strong suit last season, which goes to show how important Ejiofor’s leadership is to the team.
How can Sadiku Ibine Ayo get a larger role?
One-third of the St. John’s captain group, Sadiku Ibine Ayo, what exactly has been his role this season? Besides very limited minutes off the bench, it has been hard to find room for Ayo to touch the court this season, even with his captain role.
The senior forward is averaging just 13 minutes a game, along with three points. In the win over Ole Miss, Ibine Ayo saw eight minutes, totaling three points, along with three rebounds and a steal. His role is simple: provide hustle defense from the bench, which the Johnnies have lacked this season. His skill is definitely needed on this St. John’s roster, but he’s failed so far to find consistent playing time for a team that has desperately needed a difference-maker on defense.
It’s CLEAR that defense was a focus over the last week
It’s no secret that the St. John’s defense has been a huge disappointment through eight games. Simply, it’s what the Red Storm were known for last year, a defense that could stifle any offense in the country. This year, however, it’s the complete opposite. Pitino built this year’s program to succeed offensively, with the hope that his defensive system would work for any player, no matter their background.
So far, it hasn’t been a positive, especially after coming off a Las Vegas trip where they gave up at least 80 points in each of the three contests. However, in the win over Ole Miss, the defense finally showed a sign of improvement, allowing just 58 points to a team averaging 75.
“This was a very good defensive performance,” said Pitino. “We haven’t played defense like this before. We needed a game like this because we’ve been playing in the ’90s, we needed a meat-grinder game to show the guys when their offense is not there they can still win the game.”
The Red Storm forced 20 turnovers,13 of them being steals, along with 10 blocks, eight of them recorded by just Zuby Ejiofor. A promising showing on defense shows that Pitino has continuously voiced his concern to the team that the defense must improve.
There is definitely reason to be worried about this team
Like their prior three losses, St. John’s found themselves creating messy situations down the stretch that almost cost them this game. Heading back home, the Red Storm were looking for an opportunity to earn a statement victory, especially against an Ole Miss team that’s lost three straight games, including a contest against Miami where they lost by double digits.
St. John’s had five turnovers in the final three minutes of the game, allowing the Rebels to apply pressure and make this a closer game than one could’ve imagined. The Red Storm were able to barely keep their lead, ending the game with a four-minute field-goal drought.
This is something to definitely lose sleep over. Before, it was forgivable after dropping games to top-tier teams, including Iowa State, who just blew out the No. 1 team in the country on the road. A game against Ole Miss should be exactly that, a blowout contest where all 15 players touch the court.
“We were nervous tonight,” said Pitino. “I sensed that they were nervous because there were such high expectations. They wanted to win so badly that they were just tight offensively.”
With just one more game separating the Johnnies from Big East play, Rick Pitino and his group desperately need to figure it out before they get whacked from consideration for a spotlight in the country.
