No. 22 St. John’s and DePaul are both finding their identities on defense, just in time for Big East play to begin.
The Red Storm and Blue Demons will look to continue their recent defensive efficiency in their Big East opener on Tuesday night in New York.
Both clubs overcame early deficits to close out non-conference play with a win Saturday. St. John’s recorded a 91-64 victory over Iona at home, while visiting DePaul edged Wichita State 61-58.
St. John’s (6-3) fell behind Iona 10-2 before limiting an opponent to its fewest points of the season for the second straight game. The Red Storm beat Ole Miss, 63-58, on Dec. 6.
St. John’s opened the season by allowing at least 80 points in four of its first seven games — including all three prior to the clash against Ole Miss. The Red Storm went 1-2 while giving up an average of 83.0 points against Iowa State, Baylor and Auburn in the Players Era tournament in Las Vegas from Nov. 24-26.
St. John’s gave up at least 80 points just twice last season, when the Red Storm captured the Big East regular season and tournament championships before winning the program’s first NCAA Tournament game since 2000.
“Since the (Las Vegas trip), we’ve had time to practice — we realized we weren’t a very good defensive team,” St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino said.
“What I told the guys is don’t listen to what everybody’s saying about last year’s team, because last year’s team around Christmas time wasn’t a very good defensive team, either. And they became one of the great defensive teams in the nation. I think we can get to that point.”
DePaul (8-3) also has held its last two opponents to season-low point totals. The Blue Demons cruised to a 92-49 win over Morgan State last Tuesday.
DePaul looked as if it might be lapsing into old habits Saturday, when Wichita State raced out to a 16-2 lead while going 6-of-11 from the field. But the Blue Demons limited the Shockers to just 33.3% shooting (14-of-42) the rest of the way.
“We’re growing,” DePaul coach Chris Holtmann told Sirius XM following Saturday’s win. “We’ve grown particularly in the last week. What I’ve learned is if we’re going to win games, we’re going to have to lead with our defense.”
Led by Bryce Hopkins (14.9 points per game) and Zuby Ejiofor (14.4 ppg). St. John’s has six players averaging in double-digit scoring. Ejiofor leads the Red Storm with 7.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.7 blocks per game.
CJ Gunn scored 18 points off the bench against Wichita State, highlighted by a 4-for-7 effort from 3-point range. NJ Benson had 12 points and RJ Smith added 10 for the Blue Demons, who shot 51.1% from the floor and 41.2% from beyond the arc.
Gunn leads DePaul with 14.2 ppg. Benson is averaging 6.5 rpg while Layden Blocker paces the Blue Demons with 3.5 apg
