Key Highlights
- John’s has struggled to play consistent defense for 40 minutes, as evidenced by its losses to Auburn and Kentucky, when they gave up at least 50 second-half points after comfortably leading at halftime.
- Much of that is attributable to the Red Storm’s three-guard lineups, and while the rotation of Oziyah Sellers, Ian Jackson, Joson Sanon, Dylan Darling, and Lefteris Liotopoulos is a deep stable of shooters, none of those players is known for their defense. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhile the point guard problem might be a lost cause, Pitino may have found his answer to those issues on the opposite side of the ball against Butler, with the Red Storm deploying three forwards to lead them to an 84-70 victory.
- The foursome of Zuby Ejiofor, Bryce Hopkins, Dillon Mitchell, and Ruben Prey combined to score 51 points and force eight steals. At least three of Ejiofor, Hopkins, Mitchell, and Prey were on the floor for 39 of the Red Storm’s 70 possessions on Tuesday night.
- According to CBB Analytics, four of their five best-performing lineups in terms of Net Rating and plain old plus-minus involved at least three of those frontcourt players. It’s not only a one-game sample that shows St.
- John’s might be at their best with a bigger lineup.