St. John's vs. Marquette recap: Ellenson and Fisher propel Golden Eagles past Red Storm

Coming off the heels of a big road win over #8 Providence, there was some worry that Marquette might be in for an emotional hangover against St. John's.

Those fears were made even more prevalent when the Red Storm took a 39-31 lead into the half.

Marquette, however, was able to get it together in the second half and put the Red Storm away for a 81-75 victory.

Luke Fischer led the charge for the Golden Eagles, racking up 18 points before fouling out with two minutes to play.

Henry Ellenson notched his tenth double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

For the Red Storm, Ron Mvouika led the way with 13 points, and Kassoum Yakwe had a big day down low with nine points, 11 rebounds, and six blocks.

Marquette improved to 12-4 (2-2) with the victory, while St. John's falls to 7-10 (0-4)

1. Even on a "bad" day, Ellenson and Fischer still make a big impact

As stated above, Henry Ellenson and Luke Fischer led the charge for the Golden Eagles in Saturday's win.

After the game, head coach Steve Wojciechowski noted that although Ellenson didn't have his usual impact on the game due to foul trouble, he still managed to nearly get a double-double in the second half alone.

That's certainly a welcome sign for Marquette, and a positive in Ellenson's continuing development.

2. Duane Wilson and the tale of two halves

Duane Wilson struggled in the first half for Marquette. He went into the break with just three points on 1-9 shooting.

Following the half, though, Wilson looked like an entirely different player, racking up 11 points on 4-5 shooting, including three three-pointers.

After the game, Wilson noted that the coaches, "Told him to stay positive and keep shooting." Additionally, he said St. John's was leaving him open to either shoot, or make an extra pass.

3. Even without Sima, Red Storm have a block party

Even after the news broke that St. John's big man Yankuba Sima, the Big East's leading shot blocker, would be out for 4-6 weeks with a broken hand, the Red Storm were still able to protect the rim with relative ease.

The Johnnies picked up eight blocks as a team, six of which came from Kassoum Yakwe.

The Red Storm remain the nation's leading shot blocking team, picking up a block on 16.9% of defensive possessions.

The national average in that stat is 9.2%.