Maybe you saw a trap game. Hell, Seton Hall beat Connecticut just last weekend. This may be a new brand of college basketball, but it’s still a place where weird stuff happens every once in a while. Upsets don’t just happen in the NCAA Tournament. They litter the regular season, too. Some teams are susceptible to trap games.
We sort of figured St. John’s wouldn’t be. And the Johnnies weren’t. The final score was 82-58 over DePaul, and it wasn’t even that close. RJ Luis Jr. didn’t play and it didn’t matter. All that did was allow Sadiku Ibine Ayo — 20 points to his name all year coming in — to pour in 15. It allowed St. John’s shooters to turn in a rare hot night from 3, although many of them were so wide open the players could’ve set up chaise lounges and mixed margaritas while setting up for them.
It allowed the Johnnies to cross another game and another few days off the calendar, in advance of what should be a fascinating Sunday afternoon at the Garden when the Huskies come calling. In all, a business trip to Chicago that was hard to find fault with (although surely, in a few weeks, we’ll find out in great scatological detail the faults Rick Pitino found with it in his Vice TV series).
“We’re mature and we don’t take anyone lightly,” Pitino said. “We knew DePaul could beat us. We brought it the right way.”
