Red Storm Drop Third Straight

St. John’s dropped its 3rd straight game Wednesday night against No. 25/23 South Carolina. This was their final non-conference opponent, which means the schedule will only get tougher.

The Johnnies played well offensively, led by Durand Johnson’s 16 point game. He was named the Hall of Fame Shootout’s Most Outstanding player. Mussini delivered his 10th double-digit scoring game with 12 points, and Christian Jones also added 10 points. Overall, St. John’s shot the ball well; 44.9 % from the floor and up to 53.8% in the first half.

South Carolina was led by Michael Carrera’s double-double, with 16 points and 12 rebounds. The South Carolina Gamecocks overall shot 47.4 % from the field and over 50% from downtown.

The Johnnies had the lead early, as they were off to a quick start with a 13-7 lead. This would be their largest lead, however, as Carrera would answer back with a 3 pointer and a fast break layup to cut the lead to 1. With the game tied at 18, South Carolina went on a 13-1 run to increase their lead to 13 with 4 minutes left in the first half. They never looked back as they led for the rest of the game.

For the second-straight game, the Johnnies struggled at the charity strike shooting, 12/27. If they want to start winning these close games, they need to do a better job of knocking their free throw’s down. Getting to the line is not a problem for them, but they must finish at the line to compete. Chris Mullin said after the game, ” Overall tonight I was happy with our effort and energy. There were some areas [that need work], missed some open threes and a lot of free throws obviously, but overall I think that effort and energy will win us some games.” Durand Johnson added,” We just have to get better every day. We shoot free throws every day in practice and they’ll start to go in. I don’t know what it is, but every day is another day to get better at it, so that’s what we have to do.”

The Johnnies will have a good amount of time to collect themselves and get back in the win column as they have a 8 day layoff. They return to the court New Year’s Eve for the Big East opener against Creighton. Tip off time is 2 p.m.