The nickname is so appropriate, because the basketball team is in the middle of a Red Storm. Blood is in the water. It’s time to circle the wagons.
All the urgent cliches applied heading into last night’s game at Stony Brook, because the Johnnies began the season in big trouble on the court and were leveled by the arrest of one of their starters, Willie Shaw, Tuesday night.
The senior did not accompany the 0-2 Red Storm for last night’s game. St. John’s is off to its worst start since 1922-23 and hadn’t been 0-3 since 1918-19 season, when that squad began 0-7.
With a game next Saturday at Duke looming, the Red Storm desperately needed to begin some momentum before heading down to North Carolina. The Johnnies host Hofstra Tuesday night.
“As a team, we have to look at every game as there’s no easy game,” guard Elijah Ingram said. “There’s no one we can take lightly.
“Anyone who we play, whether it’s Stony Brook or Duke, we have to have the same intensity and the same aggressiveness.”
Stony Brook (1-2) was not a team to be trifled with. The Seawolves nearly knocked off Utah, falling 51-48 in a thriller. Coach Nick Macarchuk, in his fifth season, has led Stony Brook’s move to Division I and entrance into the America East Conference. Macarchuk has 26 years of D-I coaching experience and took Fordham to the NCAA Tournament in 1992.
St. John’s opened the season with a 52-45 loss to Marquette in the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament at the Garden. A 64-59 overtime loss to Fairfield at Alumni Hall followed. Coach Mike Jarvis is being scrutinized like never before.
Meanwhile, the players must fight off the natural feelings of negativity.
“We’re not thinking about not losing this game from that respect that if we lose, it’s the first time since 1918 (St. John’s would begin 0-3),” Ingram said before the game. “We want to win for our pride.”
Senior Kyle Cuffe, the team’s leading scorer with a 13.0 ppg average, was asked if it were a time for the upperclassmen to step up.
“When you lead, you have to lead yourself first,” Cuffe said. “Only then can you lead others.
“Of course, being a senior, you want to have a bigger role. But you have to lead by example first.”
In place of Shaw, who averaged 4.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game before being busted for marijuana possession, Darryl “Showtime” Hill moves back into the starting lineup.
If nothing else, history was on St. John’s side entering the game. Stony Brook was 0-11 against the Big East in its Division I history and 0-4 against the Johnnies. In fact, St. John’s throttled the Seawolves, 84-43, on Nov. 23, 1999, which was Stony Brook’s first D-I game.
