Men's Week in Review: Johnnies drop two on their way to an 0-3 Big East start

It has been tough sledding for St. John's this past week as the Johnnies dropped both of their games in conference play to Butler and Villanova, and they now sit at 0-3 in the Big East. First came a tough 73-69 home loss to the Bulldogs on Saturday, before the Red Storm were able to hang with Villanova last night at the Garden for about 30 minutes until falling apart in the final 10 and losing 90-72.

The top scoring performance this week for St. John's was D`Angelo Harrison, who matched a season-high with 31 points in a losing effort to Butler on Saturday.

But the real highlight of Harrison's week was his gutsy performance Tuesday, in which he injured his knee at the end of the first half and took an elbow to the face early in the second, but still went on to score 25 points and keep his team in the game for as long as he could.

Due to the primarily 6-man rotation that the Johnnies have been running so far this season, Harrison played 78 of a possible 80 minutes in the last two games, and one has to wonder how long he (and most other starters) can keep this pace up.

The most disappointing performance of the week for the Red Storm had to be Rysheed Jordan, who gave many fans anxiety both with his play on the court and with his off the court issues. As many of us know, Jordan took a leave of absence from the team on Friday night, and missed the Butler game on Saturday. There were some conflicting reports as to what caused this leave of absence, but either way it was short-lived, as Jordan would return to play in the Villanova game last night.

It seemed like the perfect movie script was being written for Jordan, a Philly kid, to return to the Garden and take down his hometown team in a huge game. But instead, Jordan struggled mightily, scoring just two points in 26 minutes, shooting 0 for 6 from the field, and turning the ball over three times.

On social media, he acknowledged his poor game and his need to get back in "the lab" to work out the kinks.

The Week Ahead

With the two losses this week come quite a few questions from the St. John's faithful. While it is still very early in conference play, there are still mounting concerns from many about this team's incredibly short bench and weak frontcourt.

Those concerns will have to wait a while to be answered, as the Red Storm will not play again until next Wednesday when they take on Providence in the Dunkin Donuts Center. By the time that game tips off the Johnnies will almost certainly have lost their top 25 ranking after losing three straight in the conference and sitting at 11-4 on the year.

Tweet of the Week

Last two years, St. John's has signed four players -- two are eligible, one of whom doesn't play. #sjubb

— Zach Braziller (@NYPost_Brazille) January 7, 2015