St. John’s had a chance to make a statement last night, and it didn’t have to come in the form of a win.
The Red Storm – particularly Kyle Cuffe and guard Elijah Ingram – had a chance to prove to themselves, if no one else, that the strong survive.
Cuffe, the 6-foot-9, 236-pound power forward from The Bronx, has always had a world of talent. But there were times when Cuffe and tough were little more than a rhyme.
Going into last night’s Big East Conference opener at Syracuse, the senior from Rice was playing the best – and toughest – basketball of his career. After scoring 14 points and grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds in a 64-61 win over Holy Cross, Cuffe came back with 13 points and nine rebounds in last weekend’s 72-65 win over Niagara.
“It’s a chance, not just for me, but for Grady [Reynolds], Elijah [Ingram], Daryll [Hill], everyone to step up,” said Cuffe. “Syracuse is a step up. The nation will be watching. We can all show what we’re made of.”
Ingram already has proven to be remarkably tough for a player of his stature. At 5-11, 166 pounds, he’s played through a broken nose suffered in the second half at Georgia Tech.
Last night he had a chance to prove his mental toughness. In last season’s loss at the Carrier Dome, Ingram suffered through the worst shooting night of his career. He missed 19 of 22 shots.
Ingram never used the fact that he suffered a badly sprained ankle two days before the Syracuse game as an excuse for his poor shooting. In fact, one month later he went a tear, draining of 13-of-23 3-pointers in a three-game stretch.
“You can’t let one game affect the next,” said Ingram. “Whether it’s a good game or a bad game, it’s in the past and you have to move on. The great players live for the moment.”
Ingram is on verge of greatness. He’s the Red Storm’s leading scorer and his calm demeanor has been a steadying presence over the last month.
After breaking his nose against Tech, Ingram was forced to wear a protective mask against Penn in the Dreyfus Holiday Festival first-round game. With sweat pouring into his eyes and the mask fogging, Ingram was 2-of-13 (1-of-6 on 3’s) in a double-overtime loss.
But Ingram adjusted to the mask and knocked down 5 of 10 3-pointers in wins over Holy Cross and Niagara. St. John’s interim coach Kevin Clark said he would look to get Ingram fewer 3-pointers against Syracuse but doesn’t want his two-guard to stop shooting.
Cuffe clearly is one of the keys. It’s time for Cuffe to be tough against an elite opponent.
