After a week of mourning, St. John’s celebrated.
It celebrated Lou Carnesecca with a second-half performance he would be proud of.
Rick Pitino donned a custom-made sweatshirt, and his players performed like one of Carnesecca’s squads, turning up the pressure on defense and executing at a high level at the other end.
A sold-out crowd that included Felipe Lopez and Walter Berry was on its feet on several occasions, as the Johnnies erased a 10-point, first-half deficit with as thorough a final 20 minutes as this group has played in the team’s first game since Carnesecca’s death at the age of 99.
The result was a one-sided, 88-71 win over Kansas State in the Big East-Big 12 Battle at aptly-named Carnesecca Arena.
The day began with chants of “Lou” and ended with chants of “Zuby,” for junior forward Zuby Ejiofor, who was a force, producing 28 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
Deivon Smith (five points, nine rebounds, three assists) returned after a one-game suspension to provide a spark, and Simeon Wilcher and Ruben Prey also contributed off the bench.
At halftime, there was nervous energy in the building after such an emotional pre-game ceremony, St. John’s holding a moment of silence for Carnesecca and playing a video montage shortly before tip-off.
Kansas State led by four and had made 8 of 13 3-point shots.
The same issues that plagued St. John’s in the loss to Georgia and a narrow win over Harvard — poor shooting, shaky 3-point defense — were still hurting the Johnnies.
A different team showed up in the second half.
The ball moved. The defense was on point.
St. John’s pushed pace and scored in transition.
It ripped off 20 of the first 25 points after the break to take the lead for good.
Carnesecca Arena was louder than it had been all year.
The Red Storm piled up 53 points over the final 20 minutes on 53 percent shooting.
After Ejiofor scored inside, pushing the lead to 17 with 8:40 to go, the result was no longer in doubt.
St. John’s was going to cruise to a win on Lou Carnesecca Day.
At the horn, a Johnnie’s coach in an eclectic sweater was victorious.
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