Duke Basketball: St. John’s won’t be intimidated by sensational Blue Devils
The St. John’s Red Storm stunned the Duke Basketball team last season and the Johnnies will not be intimidated by the Blue Devils firepower.
Riding an 11-game losing streak, the St. John’s Red Storm sent a message across the nation by defeating the then No. 4 Duke Blue Devils at Madison Square Garden.
The Johnnies would then go on the road and defeat the eventual National Champions and then No. 1 Villanova Wildcats.
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St. John’s returns it’s core players from last season’s team in Shamorie Ponds, Marvin Clark II, and Justin Simon.
Ponds torched the Blue Devils last season posting 33 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and four steals, however Clark was rather ineffective due to foul trouble only cashing in with four points and four rebounds and Simon was a stat sheet stuffer with five points, five rebounds, and seven assists.
The back to back wins last season gave the Johnnies the confidence to compete this season, especially with the addition of impact transfers Mustapha Heron from Auburn and JUCO transfer L.J. Figueroa.
The Johnnies started off the season 12-0 with a very weak non-conference schedule, as the only power conference teams the Red Storm defeated were Rutgers and Georgia Tech.
As Big East play started, the Red Storm were in control for 35 minutes against Seton Hall, but an atrocious call at the end of the game set Seton Hall up for a game winning shot in the closing seconds.
St. John’s would then steamroll then No. 16 Marquette at home, 89-69, and then finding a way to win on the road in overtime against Georgetown.
Riding it’s hot streak, the Johnnies went on the road to Villanova and once again led and were in control for a majority of the game, but were not able to hold on in the final minutes, losing by five and dropping them to 14-2 on the season.
The loss at Villanova was the start of a downfall for St. John’s as the Red Storm fell at home to DePaul — without Shamorie Ponds — but in the return of Ponds in the next game at home against Creighton, the Johnnies found a way to get back in the win column, with a 81-66 victory.
The Red Storm would then fall at on the road against Butler and then at home against Georgetown, but St. John’s found it’s rhythm once again in its last game on the road against Creighton, defeating the Blue Jays 83-67, primarily without the services of Justin Simon who only played seven minutes as he was dealing with migraines.
Shamorie Ponds has been the leader of this St. John’s team this season, averaging 20.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 2.8 steals per game, while shooting 49.3% from the field and 38.8% from 3-point range.
Mustapha Heron was named to the Second-Team All SEC last season and the year prior he was on the SEC All Freshman Team as a member of the Auburn Tigers.
This season with the Red Storm, Heron is averaging 15.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game while shooting 46.7% from the field and 43.0% from 3-point range.
Heron isn’t the only impact transfer for the Johnnies as L.J. Figueroa is the team’s leading rebounds with 6.8 rebounds per game, but he is also an explosive under-sized big, averaging 14.6 points, 2.0 assists, and 1.8 steals per game with a 54.9% field goal percentage and 3-point percentage of 41.2%.
Marvin Clark is a very streaky shooter for this St. John’s team and he has seen the explosiveness of Duke teams in the past. Saturday afternoon will be Clark’s fourth time playing the Blue Devils as he saw Duke twice as a member of the Michigan State Spartans in the 2014-15 season.
As a freshman at Michigan State, Clark scored two points in Duke’s win over Michigan State in the Champions Classic to start the season and was only able to manage one point in Duke’s Final Four victory in 2015, with only four points last season at The Garden.
However, on the season, Clark is averaging 12.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.0 steals per game for the Red Storm with a 42.8% field goal percentage and 39.2% from 3-point range.
The last member of the Red Storm’s starting five in Arizona transfer Justin Simon who is his second season with the Johnnies. Simon was dealing with migraines on Wednesday night against Creighton but should be good to go on Saturday against the Blue Devils.
Simon is a stat sheet stuffer, averaging 10.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.3 steals on the year, but Simon is definitely not one of St. John’s best shooters, shooting 46.3% from the field and only 25.9% from 3-point range.
Head Coach Chris Mullin doesn’t often use his bench, but when he does it is normally a three man bench of South Carolina transfer Sedee Keita, who also has faced the Blue Devils in the 2016-17 Final Four with South Carolina. Keita only logged nine minutes and did not score, but grabbed two rebounds and one steal. Mullin also plays junior Bryan Trimble Jr., and freshman Greg Williams Jr.
Combined, the player are averaging 6.4 points per game, but Trimble is coming off of a career high on Wednesday with 11 points against Creighton.
Aside from the player on the court, the game is also a homecoming for St. John’s Athletic Director, Mike Cragg, who was in Durham for over 30 years was most recently the senior administrator for the Men’s Basketball Team since 2000.
The Duke Blue Devils and the St. John’s Red Storm will tipoff from Cameron Indoor Stadium at 12:00pm ET on Saturday afternoon and the game can be seen on ESPN.
Stay tuned to Ball Durham on Twitter, @Ball_Durham, and here at our website, balldurham.com, for complete coverage of the Duke Blue Devils vs. the St. John’s Red Storm.