St. John’s guard, Shamorie Ponds winces after missing a
shot during the fi rst half of an NCAA college basketball
game against Marquette on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019, in New
York. Associated Press / Kevin Hagen
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By Mike Fitzpatrick
NEW YORK (AP) — Shamorie
Ponds scored 20 of his 26 points
in the first half, dominating a
highly anticipated matchup
between two of the nation’s top
guards, and St. John’s rebounded
impressively from its first loss
of the season by routing No.
16 Marquette 89-69 on Tuesday
night at Carnesecca Arena.
Marvin Clark II had 22 points
and Mustapha Heron added all 16
of his after halftime for the Red
Storm (13-1, 1-1 Big East), who
snapped Marquette’s eight-game
winning streak.
With leading scorer Markus
Howard held to eight points on
2-for-15 shooting, the Golden
Eagles (11-3, 0-1) got blown out in
their conference opener. Howard
entered averaging 25.1 points per
game, best in the Big East and
ranked fifth in the country.
Joey Hauser had 15 points to
lead Marquette, which went 6
for 21 from 3-point range (28.6
percent).
The anticipated matchup
between Howard and Ponds was
no contest from the start. Ponds
came out sizzling and scored
eight points in the first 2:37,
matching his total on 2-for-13
shooting in the loss at Seton
Hall.
The 6-foot-1 junior from
Brooklyn, the Big East preseason
player of the year, then scored
the final nine points of the first
half for the Red Storm, including
a long 3-pointer that gave them a
39-31 lead the break.
It was reminiscent of last February,
when Ponds set an arena
record with 44 points in an 86-78
win over Marquette.
Meanwhile, the 5-foot-11
Howard went 1 for 10 in the first
half and never got going. He
picked up four fouls and played
only 26 minutes.
BIG PICTURE
Marquette: Picked second in
the Big East preseason poll,
the Golden Eagles have quality
non-conference wins over Louisville,
Kansas State, Wisconsin
and Buffalo that moved them
up the national rankings. But
away from home, they’ve lost
to Indiana, Kansas and now St.
John’s.
St. John’s: Picked fourth in
the Big East preseason poll,
the Red Storm are targeting
their first NCAA Tournament
appearance in four seasons
under coach Chris Mullin.
They opened 12-0 against nonconference
opponents for the
school’s best start since winning
its first 14 games in 1982-
83, Mullin’s sophomore year.
That run ended Saturday night
with an excruciating loss at
Seton Hall in the conference
opener. Last season, St. John’s
started 10-2 out of conference
only to lose its first 11 Big East
games _ followed by consecutive
wins over No. 4 Duke and
on the road against No. 1 Villanova,
the eventual national
champion. So dating to last
season, St. John’s has won its
last three regular-season games
against ranked opponents.
STILL SMARTING
St. John’s led by 10 with
6:20 left at Seton Hall and had
several chances to close it out,
but got stagnant on offense and
lost 76-74 on a 3-pointer by
Shavar Reynolds with less than
a second remaining. A steal by
the Red Storm that could have
sealed it in the waning seconds
was negated when an official
blew his whistle, believing the
clock had not started on an
inbounds play.
Ponds scores 26 as St. John’s
routs No. 16 Marquette 89-69
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