St. John’s may be hitting its stride after some difficult moments led to its exit from the AP Top 25, and Seton Hall is experiencing its first rough patch of a surprising season.
The Red Storm seek their fifth straight win while the 25th-ranked Pirates attempt to avoid a third straight defeat Tuesday night when the Big East rivals convene in New York.
St. John’s (13-5, 6-1 Big East) has recovered solidly since collapsing in the final minutes of its 77-71 home loss to Providence on Jan. 3. The Red Storm earned double-digit victories over host Butler on Jan. 6, host Creighton on Jan. 10 and visiting Marquette on Jan. 13 before earning an 86-79 win at Villanova on Saturday.
Against Villanova, St. John’s scored on 12 of its first 13 possessions of the second half to expand a one-point lead to 17 midway through the half before making enough plays in the final minutes. The Red Storm shot 51.7% (30 of 58) from the floor, marking the fourth straight game in which they hit at least 50% after shooting 28.2% (20 of 71) in the Providence loss.
Senior forward Zuby Ejiofor scored 33 points against Providence and no teammates reached double figures.
During the winning streak, however, four different players led the Red Storm in scoring. On Saturday, Bryce Hopkins led the way with 20 points. The forward is shooting 51% (22 of 43) in his past four games while playing in a bigger starting lineup with Ejiofor and Dillon Mitchell, who has 34 rebounds during the winning streak.
“After the Providence game, that was a bad taste in all our mouths and we didn’t want to feel that type of pain again, so a switch flipped for me and the guys,” Hopkins said. “I feel like the guys are coming together at the right time, and we’re playing really good basketball right now.”
Last week, Seton Hall (14-4, 4-3) became ranked for the first time in nearly four years, but it may be a short stay. The Pirates pulled off three straight double-digit comebacks by beating Marquette, Creighton and Georgetown but saw a rally fall short on Jan. 13 against then-No. 3 UConn and struggled in Saturday’s 77-66 home loss to Butler in Newark, N.J.
Seton Hall briefly held a pair of one-point leads in the first half and trailed Butler by as many as 17 points while shooting a season-worst 35.9% (23 of 64) from the field. The Pirates also are 10 of 54 from 3-point range in their past four games after missing 14 of 17 attempts on Saturday.
Seton Hall also is hoping to avoid opposing trips to the foul line after its 27 fouls led to 41 free-throw attempts for Butler on Saturday.
The Pirates also want a more efficient showing from A.J. Staton-McCray.
“We’ve just got to figure it out,” Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway said. “We’ve got to do a better job making these guys understand this league. It’s physical, man.”
Staton-McCray led Seton Hall with 17 points but the guard is shooting 33.9% (19 of 56) since nonconference play ended.
“It’s a long season,” Staton-McCray said. “We have 15, 16 games left and then tournament games that we want to win. We’ve got a lot of games to go. We’re not where we want to be. We’ve still got to prove to everyone else who we are.”
