December 23, 2018
The St. John's men's basketball team improved to 12-0 with its most productive offensive outing in years, downing Sacred Heart, 104-82, at Carnesecca Arena.
Off to the program's best start since the 1982-83 squad won 14-straight to start the year, the Red Storm is one of just five unbeaten teams remaining in the nation.
The Red Storm set a program record with 17 made 3-pointers, eclipsing the previous high-water mark of 16 that had been reached three times, including earlier this season at Rutgers.
St. John's touched the century mark for the first time since pouring in 100 against Bethune Cookman in the 2016-17 season opener and registered its highest point total since posting 104 against Fordham on Dec. 7, 2013. The last time the Johnnies scored more than 104 points in a single contest came all the way back on Jan. 4, 1999, when the Red Storm dispatched of Niagara, 115-70.
St. John's assisted on 28 of the team's 38 made field goals and committed just eight turnovers, only one of which came after halftime. The last time the Johnnies registered more than 28 assists came in that 2013 win over Fordham, when the Red Storm dished out 29 dimes on 39 buckets.
Marvin Clark II and Mustapha Heron led the way for St. John's with 23 points apiece. Clark, who fell just one shy of his career high, scored all 23 of his points in the first half. The redshirt senior from Kansas City, Mo., went 7-for-9 from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, including a 6-of-8 effort from beyond the arc. Clark's six threes set a new career high and are tied for the sixth highest single-game total by a player in St. John's history.
Heron made eight of his 12 field goal attempts, including a career-high five triples on just six tries. The Auburn transfer also registered three assists and a pair of steals in just 25 minutes of action.
LJ Figueroa, one of the league's most efficient scorers, posted 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting to go along with five assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals.
Shamorie Ponds narrowly missed his second double-double in three tries, tallying 13 points, nine assists, five rebounds, a pair of steals and just one turnover. All three of the Brooklyn native's field goals came from beyond the arc.
The fifth St. John's player to finish in double figures, Justin Simon netted 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting. The Johnnies boasted five in double figures for the third time on the team's five-game homestand.
The Red Storm seemed to dash any hopes of a Sacred Heart (4-8) upset in a matter of mere minutes, scoring the game's first 14 points during a 26-7 run to kick off the contest. Clark scored 15 of those 26 points for St. John's to start the game, hitting four triples and converting on an old-fashioned three-point play.
After trailing by as many as 19, Sacred Heart battled back and trimmed the lead to single digits on a number of occasions in the first half, but never pulled closer than nine. The Johnnies capped the period on a 7-1 spurt over the final 1:27, taking a 15-point advantage into the locker room, 53-38.
Sacred Heart came out of the gate firing in the second half, kicking off the latter stanza with a 7-0 run to pull within eight. The Red Storm promptly responded with 18 unanswered, blowing the game wide open once again. Ponds scored eight points on the 18-0 run while Heron added six and Figueroa chipped in a pair of layups.
After bumping its lead to 26, 71-45, following the 18-0 tear, the Red Storm's chances were never truly in doubt. The Johnnies led by as many as 29 and only let the Pioneers trail by fewer than 20 for one possession.
St. John's will kick off the BIG EAST portion of its 2018-19 slate on Dec. 29, traveling to Newark for a showdown with Seton Hall. The matchup will mark the 100th meeting in the rivalry between original conference foes.