In the early stages of its non-conference schedule, defense was the biggest problem for No. 22 St. John’s.
But over the last three games, the work-in-progress Red Storm have shown they’re not immune to cold stretches on offense, either.
That remained the case in Saturday afternoon’s 91-64 win over Iona at Madison Square Garden, as St. John’s (6-3) started just 1-for-13 from the field and at one point went more than seven minutes between baskets.
The Red Storm trailed underdog Iona, 10-2, more than five minutes into Saturday’s matinee, and they committed five turnovers in the game’s first seven minutes.
They missed 11 consecutive shots between the 19:38 and 12:30 marks of the opening half, with a Zuby Ejiofor lay-up finally ending the drought.
St. John’s rolled from there, taking the lead for good with a Lefteris Liotopoulos 3-pointer with 10:42 remaining before halftime.
That was part of an 18-2 run by the Johnnies, whose defense mostly handled the sharp-shooting but undersized Gaels.
But Saturday’s slow start followed a Nov. 26 loss to Auburn in which St. John’s managed only five points in the final 4:50 regulation; and last weekend’s 63-58 win over Ole Miss in which the Red Storm shot 34% from the field.
Helping to keep Iona (8-4) in check was Ejiofor, who recorded eights blocks, matching the career high he set in the Red Storm’s previous game against Ole Miss.
Ejiofor flirted with a triple-double, finishing with six points and 10 rebounds.
St. John’s led, 36-26, at halftime, but Iona cut into the deficit early in the second half behind a torrid stretch from leading scorer C.J. Anthony.
Anthony scored on three of four possessions, including a deep 3-pointer that made it a 48-44 game with 14:22 left in regulation.
But Oziyah Sellers answered with a 3-pointer on the next St. John’s possession, and he drilled another less than three minutes later that put the Johnnies up, 58-44.
Sellers led the Johnnies with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-7 on 3-pointers. He made all four 3-pointers in the second half.
The performance marked a bounce back for the senior Sellers, who totaled only 11 points over the previous two games after averaging 21.0 in the two before that.
Bryce Hopkins and Joson Sanon added 13 points apiece Saturday for the Red Storm.
For the first time since the season opener, sophomore Ian Jackson — a former five-star recruit from the Bronx — started for St. John’s.
Jackson, a gifted scorer who spent his freshman season at North Carolina, opened the game at point guard. He started 2-of-8 with five turnovers before getting going late in the second half after the other starters had been removed. Jackson finished 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting to go with five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Saturday marked Rick Pitino’s first time facing the Gaels since he left Iona to become the St. John’s head coach in March 2023.
Pitino coached Iona, a small school in New Rochelle, for three seasons from 2020-22 and led the Gaels to two NCAA Tournament appearances.
Earlier in the week, Pitino shared his appreciation for Iona, which gave him his first NCAA job since he was fired from Louisville in 2017 amid a federal investigation into fraud and corruption in the sport. Pitino was cleared by the Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP) in 2022.
“I have tremendous affection for Iona, obviously, for a lot of reasons,” Pitino said.
St. John’s is set to face its first Big East opponent of the season on Tuesday night when it hosts DePaul at Carnesecca Arena.
