Acclaimed Auburn transfer Mustapha Heron was unable to make his St. John’s debut Thursday night, having suffered a concussion earlier in the week.
But the Red Storm’s problems may run much deeper.
Despite possessing the deepest team of Chris Mullin’s coaching tenure — and more talent than the majority of the St. John’s squads this century — the Red Storm opened a season of significantly heightened expectations with a mystifying, and uninspiring, exhibition against Division II Maryville. St. John’s trailed in the second half before closing on a 12-0 run to claim a 71-57 win at Carnesecca Arena.
Heron, who was injured Monday, is currently in the concussion protocol and his status for Tuesday’s season opener against Loyola-Maryland is uncertain. Last season, the 6-foot-5 wing was the leading scorer on Auburn’s co-SEC championship team. His arrival in Queens helped vault St. John’s to fourth in the Big East preseason poll after three straight losing seasons.
But the hype will be harder to sell after this near disaster, in which St. John’s hit just 6-of-24 3-pointers and played as if the outcome was determined before tipoff.
“In general, very disappointed in the effort and energy,” Mullin said. “I thought it was a big issue.”
St. John’s played as if it could flip a switch at any moment, but it remained out of reach until the final minutes. The Red Storm were sloppy from the start and looked like a group still learning each other’s names, struggling to shoot from the perimeter and defend it.
Shamorie Ponds, last season’s leading-scorer in the Big East, missed his first five shots — all 3-point attempts. Justin Simon was scoreless at halftime. The team opened 1-of-14 from the outside.
The exhibition-level urgency continued into the second half as Maryville took a 39-37 lead with less than 16 minutes remaining, prompting looks of bewilderment from St. John’s bench.
Even as the Saints hit 12-of-28 3-pointers, their shooters continued seeing space, keeping them within two with less than four minutes to play, and confusing a quiet crowd expecting a drama-free, highlight-filled affair.
“That was our first time going out and playing together,” forward Marvin Clark II said. “We definitely got to build our chemistry up. … A big piece of it is us jelling and that only comes with playing. We’re still trying to figure it out.”
But unlike when St. John’s was blown out by Division II St. Thomas Aquinas three years ago, Mullin now has too much talent to suffer another embarrassment.
Ponds finished with 13 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. NJCAA All-American LJ Figueroa led the Red Storm with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting, adding seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Clark chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds. Simon finished with eight points, six assists and six rebounds.
The talent allowed the hype to come so easily. It doesn’t mean the wins will.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” Mullin said. “It looked like a hyped-up team, not a team. And we’ve got to be a team.
“There’s gonna be an adjustment period, but if you play hard, that’ll help the process move along quicker. If you don’t play hard, it doesn’t matter.”
