It may not have been pretty, but St. John’s did what they were supposed to and defeated Georgia, 66-56.

The Bulldogs showed why they were picked to finish last in the SEC in the conference’s preseason poll, as they stumbled and bumbled their way through much of the game, allowing the Red Storm time to find their rhythm and eventually pull away.

Props from me to St. John’s head coach Norm Roberts for benching D.J. Kennedy, Paris Horne and Sean Evans at the start of the game for being late for the team bus. They might have gotten in before too much time went off the clock, but benching arguably your three best players for the first game at the Garden sends a big message to your team.

Dwight Hardy led the Red Storm (7-1) with 12 points, while Kennedy had 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists and Justin Brownlee added 10 points.

tbontemps@nypost.com