Wednesday night, and so many others when St. John’s has been in action this winter, felt like a different era. 

Like you took a time machine back to the 1990s, when the 3-point shot wasn’t king. When defense and rebounding won the day. When tenacity and toughness were more important than spacing and logo jumpers. 

Through 20 games, St. John’s is defying analytics and modern basketball logic. It mostly is winning without the 3-point shot. It is winning on the strength of elite defense, paint scoring and rebounding. 

You keep hearing after every victory that it isn’t sustainable. That the lack of shooting will catch up with the Johnnies. It hasn’t yet, with Rick Pitino’s team off to a 17-3 start, the best mark through 20 games for this program since the 1989-90 season.