LAS VEGAS — As Oziyah Sellers recalled, the conversations with Rick Pitino are pretty simple:
“Shoot the ball.”
The Stanford transfer is listening. For the second straight day he hit five 3-pointers, helping the 14th-ranked Johnnies rebound from their loss to Iowa State with a 96-81 victory over Baylor at Michelob Ultra Arena.
“Even in moments when I felt like I wasn’t really open, he wanted me to take it,” Sellers said. “Having that confidence from him makes me want to go out there and play free. So when I get the opportunity, I will definitely take it.”
Sellers made 5-of-7 shots from long distance and logged a team-high 36 minutes. St. John’s outscored Baylor by 23 points with the senior on the floor. After making only three 3s in St. John’s first four games, Sellers is 10-for-13 from deep in the past two. He’s taken a liking to the rims at Michelob Ultra Arena.
Bryce Hopkins (26 points) also hit three 3-pointers in as many attempts. He is beginning to look more confident in his perimeter jump shot.
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“It’s just the consistency in the work [we put in],” the Providence transfer said. “As the season goes on and teams try to game-plan for us, I’m that much more confident in taking my shots because I know how much time we’ve put in.”
“I haven’t begged my players very often to shoot the ball, but I begged these two guys to take more shots,” Pitino added, referring to Hopkins and Sellers, “and they did tonight.”
St. John’s has never had a better offensive start to a season through six games, averaging 95.3 points. The previous high, set in 1971-72, was 95.2.
After using a different starting five in each of the first four games, Pitino has used the same starters for the past three games. … The Red Storm’s 11 made 3-pointers on 22 attempts were a season high.
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