Road to the Finals

#1 St. John’s made the Big East Tournament Championship with two dominant wins. Against #9 Butler, the Red Storm held Butler to 34.5% shooting from the field and just 57 points. St. John’s would win that game, 78-57. Then, against #5 Marquette, St. John’s started slow yet still managed a 16-point victory on the back of junior forward Zuby Ejiofor and his 33 points, leading the Red Storm to a 79-63 victory. St. John’s has yet to be challenged for a full 40 minutes this tournament.

The same cannot be said for #2 Creighton. Against #10 DePaul, the Bluejays required two overtime periods to pull out a four-point victory, 85-81, with senior center Ryan Kalkbrenner scoring 32 points. Then yesterday, #3 UConn provided another challenge, with Creighton jumping out to a 17-point lead in the second half before watching the lead twindle to as little as three points. Creighton had tone-setters though, with senior guard/forward Jamiya Neal and sophomore forward Jasen Green scoring 19 points a piece en route to a 71-62 victory over Connecticut.

Key Red Storm Personnel

Against Marquette, St. John’s used just six players for more than six minutes. These will be the six players who we focus on.

First of the grouping is the Big East Player of the Year, junior guard/forward RJ Luis Jr., who averages 18.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Luis is one of three St. John’s players that have logged 1,000 minutes this season, shooting 43.8% from the field and 30.9% from three. Luis has had two pretty unproductive nights, shooting a combined 12-36 from the field, but has scored 33 points this tournament. He has the capacity to go off for more, which is worrisome given what other players have done this tournament.

Ejiofor was mentioned above with his 33-point performance against Marquette, which is especially interesting after logging just four points against Butler. Ejiofor is second in scoring on this Red Storm team with 14.4 points per game and is first in rebounding with 8.2 boards per game. He leads St. John’s in blocks as well with 46 in this season. Given his 33-point game, Ejiofor has shown he can add to the scoring column and rebounding margin.

Graduate guard Kadary Richmond leads the Red Storm in assists with 179 this season, averaging out to 5.4 assists per game, as well as adding 12.8 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game. Despite shooting 48.8% from the field, Richmond is only 7-38 (18.4%) from three this season. He has scored 27 points this tournament with 18 rebounds and 15 assists.

Senior guard Deivon Smith has been coming off the bench for St. John’s but averages the fourth highest points per game on the Red Storm. He averages 9.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game this season, granted with some injury issues. He has scored a total of six points this tournament, but also dished out five assists. His usage will be interesting to watch.

Senior guard/forward Aaron Scott is the most willing of the Red Storm players to shoot the three. He is averaging 8.6 points per game on 40.6% from the field and 29.6% from range, where he also attempted 159 shots this season. Scott has scored 26 points this tournament with six made three-pointers.

Finally, sophomore guard Simeon Wilcher is averaging 8.2 points per game with 1.9 rebounds per game. Despite scoring the least points per game of this group, he has been logging heavy minutes this tournament for St. John’s. Wilcher has played a combined 53 minutes this tournament while also being the primary player to come off the bench for Smith. Wilcher is one of only three Red Storm players with 100 or more three-point attempts.

Things to Watch

1. The Red Storm have had a luxury Creighton has not this tournament: rest. Compare some of the biggest players in this matchup and their minute totals. Ejiofor has played 65 minutes in this tournament compared to Kalkbrenner’s 86 minutes. Luis, the Red Storm leading scorer, has logged 68 minutes compared to 86 minutes for Neal. Creighton has to rely on some of the names that haven’t had stellar minutes scoring the basketball, like McAndrew or Ashworth, to help give players like Kalkbrenner and Neal a break. Think of Green’s performance against UConn yesterday as the reasoning. Green had a single point against DePaul then set a career high against UConn. Creighton will need someone to step up and set the tone early, like what Green did, to help their chances.
2. Creighton should pack the paint. St. John’s, as a team, is shooting 30.0% from the three-point line. The Red Storm players like to get into the lane and shoot mid-range shots. Players like Richmond, especially, are effective in the mid-range. As much as Creighton likes to funnel into the mid-range area and try to leave that area open, the Bluejays need to look for a creative way to beat a great team. That way might very well include giving up the three in favor of preventing players like Ejiofor and Richmond from getting going in the paint.