Storm Pounds BC In Big East Opener

St. John's knew it was the more talented team and played that way

Tyrone Grant scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the 25th-ranked Red Storm overcame a sluggish start in beating Boston College 74-55 Saturday in the teams' Big East opener.

St. John's (6-2) trailed by nine points early, then took control with a 34-6 run over a 14½-minute span bridging the halves.

"The things that were happening in the first half were our fault," St. John's first-year coach Mike Jarvis said. "We weren't finishing off inside. We weren't finishing our jump shots. That's why they have halftime."

Boston College (2-4), which slowed the tempo by switching defenses, opened a 24-15 lead seven minutes in before the Red Storm used a 17-2 run to take a 32-26 halftime lead.

The Eagles, who shot just 33 percent (19-for-57), were held without a field goal for the final 7:55 of the run, making just two free throws and committing 11 turnovers.

"When we make mistakes, we make them in bunches, which leads to runs for other teams," Boston College coach Al Skinner said. "You have to give St. John's credit for converting those turnovers into scores."

In the first half, St. John's had only two baskets come from outside the lane: the game's first basket on a jumper by Bootsy Thornton and a 3-pointer by Erick Barkley with 47 seconds left.

The Red Storm scored 17 of the first 21 points in the second half. Lavor Postell had two 3-pointers and Grant made a pair of baskets. Boston College never got within single digits the rest of the way.

"We came out kind of sluggish," said Postell, who scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds. "We just took our time, played defense and picked it up in the second half."

After allowing Boston College easy looks at the basket in the game's initial 12 minutes, St. John's increased its defensive pressure to trigger the runs.

"You'd like to think that when you make streaks that its because of defense," Jarvis said.

The smaller and youger Eagles, a consensus preseason last-place pick in the conference, surprisingly dominated the Red Storm 17-12 on offensive rebounds.

Barkley scored 14 points, Ron Artest added 11 and Reggie Jessie finished with 10 for St. John's.

Kenny Walls scored 18 points for the Eagles.

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