St. John’s played its sixth game of the season last night and coach Norm Roberts experimented with his third starting lineup.

If this sounds like a team struggling to find itself, it is. Tomas Jasiulionus started at center in place of Aaron Spears, who wants to play well so badly he’s not letting the game come to him.

“I think Aaron really wants to do well and he has been pressing a little bit,” said Roberts. “This may be a chance for him to see that. He may come off the bench a little more relaxed.

“The lineup change will not affect the amount of minutes our guys play. Regardless of who starts, the guys will still get the same playing time.” The Red Storm (2-3), who were coming off an unacceptable 78-65 home loss to Illinois State, took on LIU (2-2) last night in Carnesecca Arena. The Red Storm have lost their identity.

Once a tough, gritty defensive team, St. John’s has become enamored with its offense.

Instead of taking advantage of the combination of Lamont Hamilton and Spears down low, St. John’s is firing up 3’s and being careless with the basketball.

It’s a recipe for disaster, especially once Big East league play begins and the Red Storm realize how tough other teams, such as Marquette and Pittsburgh, are on defense.

“Last year these guys knew there was no margin for error,” said Roberts.

“We had to defend every possession because we knew we weren’t very good offensively. This year we think if we give up a basket, we can get it back on the other end.

“We can’t think that way.

We’ve got to get back to being who we are.” Jasiulionus was 3-for-3 from the field with three rebounds and two blocked shocks against Illinois State. Spears had two points and two rebounds.

“I thought he gave us some good minutes last game,” Roberts said of Jasiulionus.

James Williams leads the Blackbirds with 16.5 points per game. Aubin Scott of Hempstead adds 9.5. St.

John’s has lost three straight and can’t afford to drop to 2-4 with the meat of the schedule still to come.