NEW YORK -- Some quick thoughts on St. John's 74-59 win over Marquette on Saturday at Madison Square Garden:
What it means: St. John's is starting to look capable of a late-season surge. The Red Storm played their best game yet, blowing out the Golden Eagles, who were the preseason favorites in the Big East.
St. John's improves to 13-9 overall and 3-6 in the conference (after an 0-5 start). The Red Storm have won four of their past five games. Marquette drops to 12-10, 4-5 in the conference.
The turning point: After falling behind 8-3, St. John's quickly turned things around with a 10-0 run to take the lead. D'Angelo Harrison knocked down three straight treys in a three-minute span, and the defensive intensity was excellent. The Red Storm led 33-20 at halftime.
Marquette never got closer than 11 points after that, and that was early in the second half. Harrison was red hot after intermission as well, with three more makes from deep. A 15-2 run, capped off by a Rysheed Jordan dunk, made it 59-35 with 11:23 remaining. The game was essentially over right there.
Star watch: Harrison finished with 27 points -- his 10th game of the season with 20 or more, but first in the past six games. Jakarr Sampson chipped in 10 points. Jordan scored just two points but did have seven assists.
Derrick Wilson had 14 points to lead Marquette.
Number crunch: St. John's, the leading shot-blocking school in the nation, had 12 blocks. Chris Obekpa had seven of the 12. Marquette had just one.
What's next: St. John's plays at Providence on Tuesday. Marquette hosts Butler the same day.
