St. John’s vs. Syracuse 2016 final score: What we learned from the Red Storm’s rout of the Orange

Some days, the shots fall more frequently than others.

It was one of those days for St. John’s, who can celebrate the end of their two-game winning streak and a three-game winning streak over former Big East rival Syracuse, who they took down by the score of 93-60 on Wednesday night.

The youthful Red Storm weren’t caught in the lights of the Carrier Dome, and instead chose to thrive in the venerable venue. They shot 53.1 percent as a team from the field and a sparkling 41.4 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. 12 3-pointers were buried on the night with Shamorie Ponds and Malik Ellison combining for seven of those 12 long-range buckets. Five players picked up at least one 3-pointer on the night, with Ponds leading the way with four to call his own.

The preseason pick for Big East Freshman of the Year finished the game with 19 points scored, one behind Bashir Ahmed who led both sides with 20. Ellison joined Ponds and Ahmed in double figures with 16 points, and Richard Freudenberg and Tariq Owens each fell just one point shy with nine.

What we learned

The Red Storm’s 3-point success is going nowhere

St. John’s was ranked 17th in 3-point FG% going into the game against the Syracuse, and there’s no indication that its success from deep is going anywhere. The Red Storm shot an aforementioned 40-plus percent from long range, one of their best outputs of the entire season and keeping consistent with their marks all year. 40 percent of points scored this year by the Johnnies had come off the 3-point shot going into the game, so this success that St. John’s is having will no doubt fuel them going forward.

Shamorie Ponds remains legit

The freshman sensation for St. John’s has remained a confident and efficient shooter this year. He wasn’t quite there on Wednesday but considering that shooting 42.8 percent could be considered an “off night” for Ponds, that speaks to how he’s been able to play in his first year of college ball. His ceiling looks to be pretty darn high, and the best may still be on its way.

We may not have much a read on St. John’s, but this was a good win for them

While ‘Cuse might be considerably down, it has to feel good for the Red Storm to pick up a win of this fashion. To go on the road and dominate in the fashion that they did, this should inspire some confidence in this young group. The test will get tougher next time we see them as they’ll be facing Butler at Carnesecca, but this was no doubt a building block victory for the Johnnies.