Men’s Basketball Falls to Hot-Handed St. John’s, 95-75

Friday, December 2

Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse

7 p.m. CT

Tulane University

1-7

St. John's

3-5

St. John's

Tulane

Photo by: Parker Waters

Men’s Basketball Falls to Hot-Handed St. John’s, 95-75

Dec 2, 2016 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery Box Score (PDF)

NEW ORLEANS – Ryan Smith scored a career-high 17 points, but St. John's used 16 three-point field goals in cruising to a 95-75 victory over the Green Wave in Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse on Friday evening.

Smith shot 7-for-9 overall, while Malik Morgan chipped in 15 points and six assists. Melvin Frazier added 13 points, six rebounds and three steals for Tulane (1-7).

St. John's (3-5) first 10 field goals came from beyond the arc, as it placed four scorers in double-figures, led by Marcus Lovett's game-high 18 points. Federico Mussini and Bashir Ahmed tallied 17 points apiece, while Shamorie Ponds put up 15 points.

"I felt we came out and started the game in the right tempo," head coach Mike Dunleavy, Sr. said. "We wanted to keep the floor spread, to attack the rim, and try to get them in foul trouble. We took a couple of gambles on some defensive plays instead of playing solid and they made their first couple threes. When you're playing good shooters and you let them get going and they make their first couple shots, then you're in for a long night as we found out."

The Red Storm used hot shooting from the opening tip by knocking down six threes on seven attempts less than six minutes into the game to create an 18-8 lead at the 14:17 mark – three of those conversions coming off the hand of Lovett. St. John's continued to knock down shots from beyond the arc, making 10 of its first 11 tries, to push the advantage to 30-15 as the Green Wave used its first timeout with 9:12 to play.

The Red Storm created its largest lead of the half – 22 points – with 4:36 to go in the period, but a three by Colin Slater brought the deficit back under 20. St. John's went on to take a 51-32 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.

Tulane shot 10-for-25 (.400) overall, 4-for-11 (.364) from three and 8-for-12 (.667) at the free throw line in the first half, while the Red Storm went 17-for-28 (.607) from the floor, 11-for-14 (.786) beyond the arc and 6-for-8 (.750) at the foul stripe.

The Green Wave set the tempo for the first five-plus minutes of the second half, using an up-tempo offense following a handful of defensive stops to cut the deficit to 13 at 58-45 after a dunk by Smith with 16:19 remaining.

St. John's would put the game out of reach from the point however, using a 26-10 run to generate its largest lead of the evening, 84-55, with 8:20 left on the game clock. Tulane drew no closer than 20 points for the rest of the night.

The Green Wave shot 25-for-55 (.455) overall, 8-for-18 (.444) from deep and 17-for-22 (.773) at the free throw stripe, while the Red Storm finished 33-for-60 (.550) from the field, 16-for-25 (.640) at three-point range and 13-for-15 (.867) at the foul line.

Tulane remains at home to host Southern on Wednesday, Dec. 7. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN3/WatchESPN.

Season and single-game tickets can be purchased by clicking here to purchase, calling 504-861-WAVE (9283) or visiting the Tulane Ticket Office, located on the first floor of the James W. Wilson, Jr. Center, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.

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