Rick Pitino didn't know what to expect.
If only his team was prepared for this kind of test.
If St. John's is ready to play as well, it will need to do so against a top-tier opponent.
His players gave him a brilliant answer.
A year ago, Johnny didn't appear after the Garden lost the game against Michigan.
A year later, they were much more prominent, scoring an 85-71 near-wire victory over New Mexico State and Pitino's son Richard.
In the final seconds, there was a chant of “Who's your daddy?” rang out.
St. John's extended its lead to 16 points, cut the deficit to four points, and controlled the final minutes to improve to 4-0 heading into next week's challenging trip to the Bahamas, which begins Thursday night. I got it.
All five starting pitchers scored in double figures.
St. John's held New Mexico State star guard Donovan Dent to 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting, outscoring the Lobos by 17 points on the glass and by 10 in the paint.
RJ Lewis was the best player on the floor with 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists, followed by Kadary Richmond, who stepped up the attack with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals.
Davon Smith had 15 points, Aaron Scott had 14 points and Zuby Ejiofor had 13 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.
St. John's was by far the better team in the first half, stingy on defense, dominant on the glass (plus-11) and superior inside.
However, the momentum carried over as New Mexico scored five straight points to close the first half and cut the deficit from 16 points to 11 points.
The Lobos quickly cut the lead to single digits after the break and never really left it.
The difference was just four points after Nellie Jr. Joseph scored on a layup and New Mexico cruised to an 11-3 victory.
St. John's responded, as it had all afternoon, with a 9-2 burst.
Scott hit a 3-pointer, Ejiofor hit two free throws and Richmond scored inside to set up Scott's layup.
They were back to an 11-point lead with 5 minutes and 2 seconds remaining.
