Playing from behind for most of the game, the Red Storm found themselves on the wrong side of a listless 78-64 loss to the Northeastern Huskies. St. John's drops to 4-3, and the Colonial Athletic's Northeastern Huskies go to 3-1 on the season. Steve Lavin missed the game with his modified schedule, and observed the game from home.
The Red Storm's youth - and lack of bodies - played a factor. The Red Storm had few answers for Northeastern's Joel Smith and his hot shooting (7-12 from outside the arc). Northeastern also controlled the pace of the game, not allowing the Red Storm to force turnovers and run in transition. "We knew their weak spots were in the corner, but we were just in the right place at the right time," Northeastern's Smith said after the game.
The Huskies came to Queens with a good game plan and the Red Storm played the game with a lack of energy for stretches. The Huskies led for much of the game. Their ability to use their length to grab 21 offensive rebounds (47.7% of the Huskies' misses), to defend drives to the paint by the Johnnies, and to force 14 turnovers from the Storm (about 21% of the Red Storm possessions).
Those factors - and the Red Storm's inability to get shots from the free throw line (18 free throw attempts, a season low for St. John's) - kept the team from playing their game, and from pulling out the win in Steve Lavin's absence.
The Huskies shot 25.8% from inside the arc in the first half and 63.2% inside the arc in the second, as St. John's switched to man defenses in an attempt to catch up. The efficiency inside allowed the Huskies to take a 2 point 33-31 lead and balloon it to the 14 point gap at the end.
St. John's shot 2-16 from outside the arc in the game.
On the positive side, God`sgift Achiuwa did come to life, especially in the second half. He scored 17 points and had 9 total rebounds. He came off the bench in favor of Sir`Dominic Pointer (8 points). Nurideen Lindsey scored 16 points, and hit three jump shots (all from inside the arc). D`Angelo Harrison started well, running the point and getting a pair of buckets, but he struggled overall with 2-10 shooting (8 points). Moe Harkless (3-10, 8 points, 8 rebounds) struggled as well.
Northeastern's Joel Smith scored 27 points on 7-12 shooting from beyond the arc, and aded 10 total rebounds. Point guard Jonathan Lee added 17 points, and Kauri Black had 12.
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