Once again, there was no drama on opening night at Carnesecca Arena, with St. John's cruising to a 78-63 win over Monmouth to snag their 13th consecutive season-opening victory. However, there will be some issues to clean up for the Red Storm.
St. John's trailed briefly after Monmouth scored the first basket, then clamped down with suffocating pressure and took complete control of the game. The Red Storm roared on a 24-4 run following Stefano Spartalis's opening salvo for the Hawks, forcing eight of Monmouth's 11 first-half turnovers during this stretch. Yet after those first nine minutes, St. John's got away from what worked spectacularly and couldn't build on their massive lead.
"We stood around a lot and played as if we had Shaquille O'Neal in the low post instead of creating ball movement," Rick Pitino told the media in his postgame press conference.
The Johnnies' lead never shrank beyond 12 points for the rest of the game, but they never turned it into a blowout. After making seven of their first buckets, St. John's hit 19 of their last 54 shots (35.1% from the field) and went 6-of-20 from three (30%).
The offensive woes continued into the second half. The Red Storm still couldn't find a rhythm as they were outscored 34-33 and gave up eight turnovers after the intermission. If there was any consolation in the final twenty minutes, it was Ian Jackson rediscovering his shooting stroke after a quiet first half. The junior guard put up 13 of his 15 total points and buried three triples past halftime.
Jackson's backcourt partner Quinn Ellis looked like the complete package in his college basketball debut, scoring 8 points (3-of-5 from the field), getting seven assists, five rebounds, and five steals — four of those takeaways came in that opening stretch that decided this game. Ellis believes the Red Storm need to stretch that tenacity over an entire game.
"We lost our concentration; I think we were worrying about the scoreboard too much," Ellis commented after the game. "We have to focus on playing with consistency and aggressiveness on both ends of the floor."
While St. John's largely struggled to muster any offensive flow, that couldn't be said for Keyshawn Hall. The Auburn transfer put up the Red Storm's first seven points and entered the half with a team-high 20 points. Hall scored every way, post layups, cutting dunks, stepback threes, and finished the night leading the Johnnies with 26 points (9-of-16 from the field, 1-of-3 from three) and nine rebounds.
"It's a pleasure to play with guys like [Quinn Ellis]; he gets me involved every time," Hall said after the game. "I don't have to go off the dribble, I don't have to force a bunch of shots, it comes very fluidly."
The Red Storm will hope for a cleaner performance on Sunday, November 8, when they face the Iona Gaels in their first game at Madison Square Garden this season. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on Peacock.
