St. John’s Falls to No. 15 Alabama in Season Opener
NEW YORK, NY – St. John’s suffered a 90-85 defeat to No. 15 Alabama Saturday at Madison Square Garden, failing its first test of the season in front of a home crowd. The Crimson Tide‘s relentless guard play and efficient shooting proved too much for the Red storm, marking the most points allowed by a Rick Pitino-coached St. John’s team in his three years with the program.
Alabama’s backcourt trio of Mark Sears, Aaron Philon, and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. combined for 34 first-half points, shooting 13-for-22 from the field and exploiting defensive weaknesses to create open looks. The Crimson Tide closed the first half on a 16-6 run, culminating in a Sears three-pointer at the buzzer to take a nine-point lead into halftime, 53-44.
This loss is a significant early-season setback for Pitino, who is attempting to rebuild the storied St. John’s program. The game exposed vulnerabilities in the red Storm’s defense and highlighted the need for more consistent offensive contributions beyond Zuby Ejiofor and David Hopkins, who accounted for 36 of St. john’s 44 points.
“our defense was poor today,” Ejiofor acknowledged after the game.
Despite a strong start to the second half that briefly brought St. John’s within two points, Alabama responded with a 9-0 run and consistently answered every Red Storm push.The Johnnies were outscored 8-0 in the paint and 21-0 from beyond the three-point line.
Sellers, Jackson, and Sanon struggled offensively, shooting a combined 1-for-10 from the field with three turnovers.
“You can go play somebody and win by 30 points – you see some of the scores last night – you get nothing out of that,” Pitino said. “I think we have the potential to be an outstanding basketball team. But as coach, I need to find out where our deficiencies lie, and I found out tonight. I also found out tonight they’re a group of guys who want to win badly, they just didn’t no how to do it.”
