St. John's vs Georgetown recap: Hoyas Down Red Storm With Ease

There's a saying that goes, "A well balanced team will beat a team that has one or two players that play well while everyone else  takes the night off 8 times out of 10."

Well, if it was not a famous saying before, it is now. St. John's found that out the hard way, as Georgetown had six players score in double figures to lead the Hoyas to a 79-57 win at home.

A big 11-0 run at the end of the first half was exactly what the doctor ordered for the Hoyas. They stormed to an 33-23 lead thanks to a big first half from Mikael Hopkins and Isaiah Copeland, who had combined for half of Georgetown's points in the first stanza.

The Hoyas dominated the Red Storm in every facet of the game. They shot 50% from the floor and were hot beyond the arc, shooting 7-18 from 3-point land.

But more impressively was the way the Hoyas took it to St. John's on defense. They held the Johnnies to only 33% shooting while forcing seven steals. Coach John Thompson III was nonchalant about their defensive effort after the game.

"Our defense was good today...particularly in the first half."

They were certainly better than good, as the Hoyas held a strong scoring lineup in St. John's to only 57 points. D'Angelo Harrison, the Red Storm's leading scorer, was held to only five(!) points on the evening.

Josh Smith had a big game for Georgetown. He scored 12 points, going 5-8 from the floor and had three rebounds.

"Josh commands attention as a guy who can score," said Thompson.

As for the Red Storm, Phil Greene IV and Sir'Domonic Pointer led the way with 18 and 16 points respectively. Everyone else fell flat on their face. No other player hit double digits in scoring for Steve Lavin's squad. In addition to Harrison's struggles, Chris Obekpa, and Rysheed Jordan, stalwarts on this St. John's team, had four and three points each respectively. It was an ugly night for the Red Storm, and that's putting it politely.

There was good news for Red Storm fans though! Believe it or not, Lavin used 11 (!!!) players tonight. As in they played. Saw the court. Tried to contribute. It actually happened. A team that usually plays only six players played 11. Insanity.

But the better news was from the Hoyas camp, as Smith, L.J. Peak, D'vauntes-Smith Rivera,  Isaiah Copeland and Hopkins each had 12 points on the night. Jabril Trawick had a solid night as well, chipping in 11 points. So that thing about having a balanced lineup? Yeah. That is good.

Georgetown improves to 9-5 in Big East play and moves into third place in the Big East. The Red Storm drop below .500 in Big East play at 6-7, dropping to sixth in the conference.

St. John's will have a chance for redemption in less than two weeks when they host Georgetown on Feb. 28 at Madison Square Garden.