The Red Storm put together another full forty minutes for a second straight game, dispatching Colgate in a 90-59 wire-to-wire victory on Wednesday night fueled by selfless ball movement.
Tounde Yessoufou made his presence felt on both ends of the court early on, playing the passing lanes and scoring inside and outside. Yessoufou put up seven of his 15 points and snatched all three of his steals before the midway point of the first half.
After
Colgate equalized the game at 14-14 with a Josh Aheyere triple at 15:19 remaining, the Red Storm pulled away with an extended 20-5 run to take a 15-point lead.
A quick flurry of Raiders baskets cut that advantage to six points, but the Red Storm re-affirmed their superiority with an 11-0 run into halftime, capped by a silky buzzer-beating layup from Ian Jackson.
St. John’s shut the door on any Colgate run after halftime and pulled away, outscoring the Raiders, 41-27. Colgate was on fire from outside to begin the game, hitting six of their 14 attempts in the first half, but that touch evaporated in the final twenty minutes as they went 1-of-13 from deep. Andrew Alekseyenko was the only Raiders player to finish with double figures on a team-high 15, but he went 6-of-15 from the floor.
The ball continued to move harmoniously for the Red Storm. Five Johnnies put up double figures Wednesday night, including four starters, led by 17 points apiece from Keyshawn Hall and Ian Jackson. Ruben Prey shook off a first half plagued by foul trouble by almost recording a double-double in the second half alone, finishing the night with 11 points and eight rebounds. Lefteris Liotopoulos is also coming along, scoring 13 points off the bench, including three triples.
“He is going to leave here a much better basketball player than when he came in all phases of the game: toughness, rebounding, defense, scoring,” Rick Pitino said of Liotopoulos after the game.
While Quinn Ellis wasn’t one of those starters, he scored 6 points on 2-of-7 shooting and was once again a maestro on the floor. Ellis dished out nine assists and didn’t turn the ball over once in 32 minutes of play, and his second basket of the night was a rim-rattling, one-handed jam.
“Ellis is as cerebral a basketball player as you can have,” Pitino told media postgame. “He’s an amazing player with an incredible IQ.”
The super point guard also made huge contributions in the hustle department, grabbing six rebounds, forcing four steals, and recording a block.
The Red Storm will face their first high-major test of the season in their next game, as they take on former Big East rival Syracuse on Sunday, November 15, at Madison Square Garden. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., and Peacock will broadcast the game.
