St. John’s uses balanced attack to rip Delaware for sixth straight win

St. John’s nonconference finale was representative of the entire slate.

Good, not great.

There were no bad losses, but no big wins.

The Johnnies held serve.

They didn’t suffer setbacks to the likes of Boston College or Michigan, losses that came back to bite them last March. But losses to projected tournament teams Baylor and Georgia by a combined four points were frustrating nonetheless, leaving the Johnnies without a signature victory.

St. John’s (11-2) will still enter the New Year in good position, expected to make the main draw of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015. Behind 20 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists from Deivon Smith, St. John’s closed out the soft position of its schedule with a 97-76 thumping of Delaware of the CAA at Carnesecca Arena on Saturday night.

“I think we did our job,” coach Rick Pitino said, referring to the completed nonconference schedule.

St. John’s led by 23 points late in the first half and was on cruise control from there.

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The Red Storm defense coasted after halftime, allowing the Blue Hens (7-6) to shoot 58.1 from the field after the break.

Additionally, the Johnnies couldn’t contain sharpshooter John Camden, who scored 35 points and made nine 3-pointers.

“Obviously, any time you win you should be pleased, but to be honest with you, I’m anything but pleased,” Pitino said. “I think sometimes when you’re getting ready for your next opponent being Creighton, you [aren’t] as focused.”

It was a strong offensive performance. Six Johnnies scored in double figures.

They had 23 assists on 39 made field goals and after going just 6-for-28 on 3-point attempts in their first two Big East games, they were 8-for-12 from deep on Saturday.

Zuby Ejiofor owned the paint, with 16 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, and RJ Luis added 16 off the bench. Simeon Wilcher scored 12 and Kadary Richmond followed with 10 points and seven assists.

“We need both halves, honestly, because teams are super talented [in the Big East],” Smith said. “We need to put together two halves, stop the 3-ball, take our matchups seriously, pay attention to the scouts and get it all together so we can win a championship.”

The schedule gets much tougher from here, a New Year’s Eve date in Omaha, Neb., with perennial contender Creighton. That’s followed by Butler coming to Queens four days later and a visit to Xavier on Jan. 7.

Pitino didn’t give his players a ton of time off after their victory over Providence eight days ago. They were back on campus on Christmas Eve for practice and individual player development sessions.

Coincidentally or not, St. John’s started this guarantee game far better than its recent ones. Instead of toying with an overmatched opponent, the Johnnies flexed their muscles.

They were sharp on the defensive end and quickly built a double-digit lead. The 3-pointers were dropping early: They made their first four attempts and led by as many as 23 in a one-sided opening half.

The effort wasn’t there for the final 20 minutes. It didn’t need to be to get past Delaware.

But St. John’s knows that playing two halves will be critical to having the kind of league season that is expected.

“I don’t think we’re near our potential, which is a good thing, not a bad thing,” Pitino said. “But I think we have to get better defensively. It’s just guys understanding personnel. If I had to point out our biggest weakness — obviously free throw shooting is glaring — but I think our biggest weakness is absorbing the scouting report. … We’re struggling with that a little bit.”