Marvin Clark II, Shamorie Ponds and Justin Simon helped St. John's get a big win at Marquette.
This was a couple of weeks ago, when St. John’s was sitting at 3-4 in the BIG EAST after a loss to Butler on Jan. 19. The Johnnies’ three conference wins had them bunched together in the league standings with a plethora of other three-win programs and the question was put to Red Storm head coach Chris Mullin about whether it was time to start building some momentum and how important it was to start pulling away in the league as February approached.
“At some point you’re looking to make separation,” Mullin said. “You got to go game-by game, but that’s really where our focus is.”
St. John’s made it a bit harder on itself when it proceeded to drop a 10-point decision to Georgetown at Madison Square Garden in its next game to drop to 3-5 in conference play. It was then they were faced with the daunting task of playing their next three games all on the road against Creighton, No. 2 Duke and No. 10 Marquette.
It was an arduous stretch of the Johnnies’ schedule and one that could have sent their season into a death spiral. And when you consider the fact that St. John’s went to Creighton 0-for-7 lifetime in games played in Omaha in what was supposed to be the “easiest” of the three games, you had to wonder if the Johnnies were going to answer the bell.
Initially they did, as four Johnnies players scored in double figures in an 83-67 victory over Creighton. But that was followed up by a forgettable outing at Duke in a 30-point loss. All of which made Tuesday night’s encounter at No. 10 Marquette the most pivotal game of St. John’s season thus far.
And St. John’s responded with a one-point victory that just may have saved its season.
Yes, Shamorie Ponds, the Red Storm’s All-Everything guard, scored 28 points, went 9-for-9 from the free throw line, bested Marquette wunderkind Markus Howard and hit the game-winning shot with 16 seconds to play in the 70-69 victory. But this one was all about an extraordinary defensive effort by St. John’s. One that held the Golden Eagles 10 points below their season average and held Howard, the conference’s leading scorer at 25.0 points per game, eight points below his norm.
After the victory, defense was all St. John’s wanted to talk about.
“I think our defense against Markus Howard and the Hauser brothers is the focal point,” Mullin said. “Howard can get free and get 40 in a half. The Hauser brothers, if you give them an inch they’ll make shots...Forty minutes of defense was exceptional. (Marquette’s) one of the best offensive teams in the country with three of the best shooters I’ve seen together on a team ever. I think holding them to 69 on their own court is pretty phenomenal defense.”
Howard shot just 5-for-17 in the game while Sam Hauser was just 6-of-16 from the field, including 3-for-12 from three-point range. A lot of the Johnnies’ success at slowing Howard down went to Justin Simon, even if he tried to deflect the credit to others.
“It’s a team thing,” Simon said. “We put some fresh bodies out on the court. (But) I feel like I threw his rhythm off. Just working like a dog, making him a driver instead of being the three-point treat that he is. I made sure to take that away and make his teammates make plays instead of him. (But) he’s an incredible player. One of the best in the BIG EAST.”
So how significant a road win was this for the Johnnies? Well, the Fiserv Forum, the Golden Eagles’ brand-new home, has been a house of horrors for Marquette opponents in its first season. Marquette came into this game toting a 14-0 record but the Eagles are unbeaten at home no more.
“It’s definitely a big win,” said Ponds, who also grabbed seven rebounds and a pair of steals in the crucial victory. “It’s big for the program to beat Marquette (on its home court). They don’t lose here. I’m glad we came up with the win.”
The loss by Marquette (19-4, 8-2) was its first BIG EAST loss since New Year’s Day, which was also delivered by St. John’s.
It was also a tremendous victory for the Red Storm program in light of fact that their recent struggles in conference play (the Johnnies were 1-4 in league games prior to the road trip) had their NCAA tournament aspirations circling the drain. But this victory was truly of the resume-building variety for St. John’s.
The Johnnies are now 17-6 overall and 5-5 in the BIG EAST. They are still just one win ahead of the quartet of Georgetown, Creighton, Seton Hall, DePaul and Butler going into Wednesday night’s action and there is still plenty of basketball to be played. But the Red Storm wake up today in a much better place (and we don’t mean Queens) as five of their next six games will come at home, beginning with Saturday’s noon encounter with Providence at the Garden followed by a Tuesday night matchup with Butler at Carnesecca Arena.
It’s a golden opportunity for the Johnnies to build that separation in the conference that Mullin was talking about.
“We can’t be taken lightly,” Ponds told Fox’s Andy Katz after the win. “We have a lot of fight in us and we never back down from the challenge.”
Ponds and the Red Storm certainly didn’t back down Tuesday night. They answered the bell in Milwaukee and in doing so just may have saved what could be a special season.