St. John’s82
Villanova70
Jim Spanarkel, the outstanding college basketball analyst for MSG and ESPN, made this observation at halftime of yesterday’s Big East Conference showdown between St. John’s and Villanova:
“St. John’s is really coming,” he said. “They are so much better than they were a month ago. If they keep improving like this, they’re to be a really good team soon.”
Is the second half of yesterday’s 82-70 rout, in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score, soon enough? The Red Storm led by 18 with 2:45 left.
One month ago St. John’s was 4-5 and on the verge of a meltdown. Today it is 10-6 and atop the Big East East Division with a 4-1 mark.
“We put about six different things up on the board at halftime that we needed to do better in the second half and we did all of them,” said St. John’s coach Mike Jarvis. “I’d say the second half, in terms of carrying out the game plan, was probably the best that it’s been.”
The six keys?
Contain dribble.
Everyone rebound.
Stay solid.
Everyone run.
The fast break will be there this half.
In [the] open [offense], the four [power forward] and five [center] will be open.
Almost every St. John’s player did something positive yesterday, led by junior power forward Anthony Glover, who scored six of a his team-high 20 in a 31-second span of the second half, as the Red Storm opened a 64-49 lead with 9:11 left.
Villanova coach Steve Lappas could have dialed 911 at that point and it wouldn’t have helped.
“I felt like I was hot,” said Glover. “If I got the ball, I didn’t think anyone could stop me. Why not keep going back to your horse?”
Glover was a Clydesdale. The 6-foot-6, 225-pound junior was voted the strongest player in the league by fellow Big East players in a pre-season poll in a national magazine.
“I didn’t even know,” said Glover. “Hey, thanks.”
Villanova (11-5, 3-2) has a terrific big man in Kentucky transfer Michael Bradley, who had to work for each of his 21 points and 12 rebounds, but the Wildcats’ guard play is awful. They committed 23 turnovers, marking the fourth straight game in which the Wildcats have committed more than 20 turnovers.
Lappas has the Wildcats run suicide drills in practice after every turnover. But Villanova continues to kill itself in games and St. John’s has matured into a lethal assassin.
“Turnovers obviously are killing us,” said Lappas. “They had 14 steals on top of it. It is not even like travels. It is a lot of bad passes obviously. A lot of those 14 steals become baskets. That was the game without question.”
So was the play of the Red Storm’s big men. Junior Donald Emanual has finally found his niche on the team. He contributed eight points, two rebounds and some solid defense on Bradley.
Freshman Kyle Cuffe, who lost his starting job after six games, also had eight points to go along with seven rebounds and tough defense on Bradley. Freshman center Mohamed Diakite added five points and three rebounds while banging with Bradley.
Bottom line: The trio of Emanuel, Diakite and Cuffe combined for 21 points and 12, the same numbers that Bradley posted. No wonder that Emanuel, a 6-9 junior from Houston, got his first standing ovation at the Garden when he was given a blow midway through the second half.
Emanuel initially said he wasn’t aware of the ovation because he was focusing on his coach’s critique. But afterward the likable Texan smiled and reflected on his career.
“I appreciate it,” he said. “I love the Garden crowd. It’s been a rocky climb for me and they’ve always stayed behind me. It was good to hear.”
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In the second game of yesterday’s doubleheader, George Washington played Fordham. The Colonials defeated St. John’s 85-75 earlier this season in a game marred by cheap shots, including Reggie Jessie’s punch to SirValiant Brown’s groin.
A Garden source said GW officials called earlier this week to make certain the Colonials and Red Storm were kept apart in the bowels of the Garden. Security did an excellent job and there was no incident.
