No. 10 St. John’s has built a modest cushion atop the Big East standings, but it is far from satisfied.
Following another high-profile victory, the surging Red Storm look to maintain their focus while aiming for a 12th win in 13 games as they prepare to face DePaul on Wednesday night in Chicago.
St. John’s (22-4, 13-2 Big East) has stacked up its most wins in a single season since rattling off 25 during the 1999-2000 campaign. Thanks to a gritty 79-73 victory over then-No. 24 Creighton on Sunday, the Red Storm enter their meeting with the Blue Demons holding a two-game lead over the Bluejays in the conference standings.
Still, St. John’s can’t take its foot off the gas, as three of its final five games of the regular season come on the road, with one of those a meeting with No. 16 Marquette. The Red Storm also have to face two-time defending champion UConn at home before they can think about the postseason.
“We just have to keep playing the way we’ve been playing and move on to the next step,” Red Storm guard Kadary Richmond, who had 19 points, 10 rebounds and four steals on Sunday, told the New York Post. “We can’t have any slip-ups.”
Taking a step back against DePaul (11-15, 2-13) would certainly be one of those slip-ups, as the Blue Demons are last in the league and have dropped three consecutive games by a combined 37 points. St. John’s rolled to an 89-61 victory over DePaul on Dec. 17 in New York.
The Red Storm shot 55.2 percent from the field in that win — their best field-goal percentage against a conference foe this season — but their offense hasn’t been nearly as crisp as of late.
St. John’s has failed to top 40 percent from the floor in three of its past five games, but it still managed to go 4-1.
“I’ve never seen these type of statistics and this much winning — ever,” Red Storm coach Rick Pitino said. “It defies all statistical logic, but that tells you how good they are with effort.”
Pitino hopes the effort doesn’t wane vs. DePaul, which shot 39.2 percent overall and went 6-for-20 from 3-point range when it faced St. John’s earlier this season. The Blue Demons have dropped six of their past seven games, most recently falling 85-68 to Xavier on Saturday in Cincinnati.
“We have still missed some open shots that you’ve got to make at this point,” DePaul coach Chris Holtmann said. “Bottom line is you’ve got to make them at this point.”
CJ Gunn is averaging a team-high 12.2 points per game for the Blue Demons. He finished with 16 on 7-of-12 shooting in the setback against the Musketeers.
RJ Luis Jr. has been leading the way for St. John’s and ranks first on the team in points per game (17.6) and second in rebounds per game (7.2).
DePaul could be without forward NJ Benson on Wednesday night. He didn’t play against Xavier due to a hand injury.
–Field Level Media
