Darling Leads St. John's Dominance Of DePaul

 

Dylan Darling draining a three-pointer on Tuesday night. @stjohnsbasketball.

The St. John's Red Storm opened Big East Conference play with a 79-66 win over DePaul on Tuesday night at Carnesecca Arena.

St. John's, which came in at No. 22 in the AP Top 25 and No. 20 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll this week, is now 7-3 on the season, and 1-0 in conference play.

Dylan Darling led the way with 17 points off the bench, as he shot 5-9 overall, including 3-5 from behind the arc, with six rebounds and two assists, in 25 minutes of play.

Joson Sanon had 15 points (5-10 FG, 2-4 threes), with nine rebounds, narrowly missing a double-double, and a steal. Ian Jackson had 10 points (4-7 FG, 2-3 threes), with three rebounds and two assists, while Zuby Ejiofor had nine points (3-8 FG), seven rebounds, three assists, and a steal.

St. John's held a 16-14 lead in the opening minutes before they went on a 12-2 run capped by a thrilling fast-break dunk from Ruben Prey after he forced a turnover.

That lead would balloon to 18 points, at 37-19, on a pair of Janon free throws at 5:00, and the Red Storm took an 11-point lead, 39-28 into halftime.

St. John's went back up 15, at 47-32, on a Bryce Hopkins three-pointer at the 16:55 mark of the second half, and DePaul responded with an 8-0 run capped by a CJ Gunn three-pointer to pull within seven, at 13:48.

The lead would go back to 15, at 60-45, on a pair of Oziyah Sellers free throws, with 9:53 left, and they would hold at lead a 10-point lead the rest of the way.

St. John's shot 44.8 percent for the game, as they were 26-58, and they had one of their best nights behind the arc, shooting 45.5 percent, or 10-22, on three-pointers.

PITINO POSTGAME: St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino addressed the media after the game, and he opened with this statement: "I was really pleased with our defense for the third game in a row. When you have three guys who have been the rock of your team, not play well offensively, and your defense is there, it becomes a very tough basketball team. Your point guard (Darling), who was a little shaky with his confidence prior to yesterday, totally dominated the game and that's an amazing feeling. I'm really proud of these guys. On certain nights you may not have it but your defense is going to win it for you and it did tonight."

On Dylan Darling's contributions: "He's so much more valuable than just scoring the basketball. He pressures the ball, sees the court, is a pest defensively and gets n the floor for loose balls. He makes people better. This young man took over the game at the point guard position and I'm really proud of him."

On Joson Sanon's growth: "Joson has really gotten a lot better. Skill-wise, he probably has the most on the team. He can do most things."

On the team's trajectory: "We're a team that's going to grow and get better. If we keep playing defense like this, we're going to have a very good season."