Bryce Hopkins finished with 15 points and 13th-ranked St. John’s held off a strong challenge from William & Mary in the first half before dominating the final 20 minutes of its 93-60 victory Saturday night in Queens, New York.
After falling eight spots in this week’s top 25, the Red Storm (2-1) rebounded from last week’s disappointing defensive performance in a 103-96 loss to Alabama a week ago and scored 19 straight points to turn a five-point halftime lead into a rout before the midway point of the second half.
Joson Sanon also scored 15 points for the Red Storm, who shot 50% in the second half and 48% overall.
Dylan Darling contributed 13 points and four steals after missing the Alabama game with a calf injury. Oziyah Sellers also finished with 13 as the Red Storm scored over 90 for the third consecutive time.
Zuby Ejiofor was held to 11 and didn’t attempt his first shot before hitting a layup with about five minutes remaining in the first half.
Reese Miller scored 11 to lead the Tribe, but Kyle Pulliam was held to eight points on 3 of 11 from the field. William & Mary shot 37.7%, made 9 of 29 shots and committed 24 turnovers
The Tribe responded to the Red Storm’s 17-9 start with an 8-2 spurt and trailed 19-17 after a Chase Lowe layup with 11:27 left. The Tribe continued to trail and forged a 26-26 tie on an open dunk by Kilian Brockhoff with 6:11 left and St. John’s settled for a 39-34 halftime lead.
The Red Storm finally started to pull away early in the second when they scored the first eight points and Ejiofor’s dunk pushed the lead to 47-34 with 17:45 to play. St. John’s increased its lead to 56-36 when Hopkins topped two defenders for a layup with 15:20 left and it was part of a 19-0 run that increased the lead to 66-36 with about 13:28 remaining.
St. John’s outscored William & Mary 29-6 in points off turnovers.
–Field level media
