St. John’s showed more of an edge Thursday night, especially on the glass.
Rick Pitino has wanted to see more physicality from what he has called his “finesse” team, and saw some of that in the 14th-ranked Johnnies’ 97-49 rout of Bucknell at Carnesecca Arena.
St. John’s was plus-22 in rebounding, had 44 points in the paint, blocked seven shots and tallied over 40 deflections.
Dillon Mitchell spearheaded the effort, producing 11 rebounds, four steals and three of the blocks.
“For me, it starts on the defensive end, that’s what I try to pride myself on, get the other guys going, get deflections, get steals,” Mitchell said. “For me, it’s all about some of the little things, especially on the defensive end, to get the guys going.”
The guards also were a factor, as Oziyah Sellers, Joson Sanon and Ian Jackson combined for 14 rebounds. That will be important in their next game, against No. 16 Iowa State in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.
“That’s one of the biggest things because going into the next two games, both Iowa State and Baylor, they’re Big 12 teams,” Mitchell said. “They’re tough, they’re physical. The bigs are going to be down there battling and it’s up to the guards to be tough as well, and go in there and get some rebounds like they did tonight.
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“It’s good to see, I know what it’s like to play these teams coming into Vegas, and it’s very physical. We have to keep that mindset to understand what we have to do.”
In St. John’s first three games, Bryce Hopkins made just one 3-pointer and attempted eight.
He was 3-for-4 from deep Thursday.
“Very important, and he passed up about three that were wide open in the first half,” Pitino said. “Sometimes with guys, they don’t like being wide open.”
In Hopkins’ last full season before tearing his ACL, 2022-23, he shot 36.4 percent from 3-point range on 2.3 attempts per game.
St. John’s needs Hopkins to make some 3s to stretch the floor, especially when it plays big with the Providence transfer at small forward.
