For the second year in a row, ASU basketball is Dayton bound. This time, the Sun Devils will face an up-and-down St. John’s squad.
Between First Four opponents Arizona State and St. John’s, there is one thing in common: both had higher aspirations than Dayton. The opposing squads combined for a 21-3 record to start the year.
In fact, St. John’s didn’t lose its first game until late December. That game, the Red Storm fell 76-74 to Seton Hall. Their downward spiral began that night and never really ended.
St. John’s finished Big East play 8-10 with losses to DePaul (twice), Providence (also twice), Georgetown and Butler. Most recently, the Red Storm were drubbed by Marquette in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals, 86-54.
Although the second half of the season has been disappointing for St. John’s, there have been bright spots. Four of those eight conference wins were against 2019 NCAA Tournament teams – Marquette (twice), Seton Hall and Villanova.
While this will be the first meeting between ASU and St. John’s this year, they are familiar foes. Last year, ASU cruised to an 82-70 win at Staples Center. But St. Johns has improved substantially since then.
And, though the Big East and Pac-12 are far from the same, both squads played Cal and Princeton this year. ASU swept the Golden Bears but fell in a home loss to Princeton. St. John’s, however, defeated both Cal and Princeton, both of which were New York.
Individually, Shamorie Ponds is the catalyst for St. John’s. Averaging 19.5 points, Ponds is the Red Storm’s leader in scoring. He also leads the team in assists per game with 5.2.
There has been a direct correlation between Ponds’ and the team’s success. In games he scored 20 points or more, the Red Storm are 11-3. However, the team is just 10-9 when he’s off his game.
Four other St. John’s players – Mustapha Heron, LJ Figueroa, Marvin Clark II and Justin Simon – are averaging more than 10 points per game. This well-spread attack has allowed St. John’s to have one of the Big East’s premier offenses. The Red Storm are averaging 77.5 points per contest, which is 61st in the nation and fourth in the Big East.
On the flipside, defense and rebounding are areas in which the Red Storm falter. They are allowing 74.8 points per game this year, which places them No. 264 in the NCAA. Down low, they have also struggled, collecting offensive boards on just 21.7 percent of their opportunities.
When comes down to just rankings and figures, it’s a bit surprising St. John’s received a bid. The Red Storm are No. 73 in the NCAA NET Rankings, the lowest of any at-large team.
Ultimately, their selection most likely came down to lack of embarrassing losses. Only two of the Red Storm’s losses – both to DePaul – were against sub-100 teams in the KenPom rankings. Comparatively, ASU has five sub-100 losses.
Plus, St. John’s did enough with those Big East wins to secure a berth.
Much has changed since ASU and St. John’s’ last meeting. Perhaps, the most notable difference is the stakes – survive and advance.