NEW YORK — For the first time this season, St. John’s is unranked.
The Red Storm fell from the AP Top 25 two days after Saturday’s 78-66 loss to Kentucky dropped them to 7-4.
St. John’s started the season ranked fifth, but has failed to live up to high expectations thus far.
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The Johnnies are 0-3 against ranked opponents and 2-4 against power conference teams.
“We’re a decent basketball team. Nothing more than decent,” head coach Rick Pitino said after losing to Kentucky at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. “We have to go from good to good, and that means you have to play two good halves defensively.”
St. John’s was ranked 22nd in last week’s poll. It received 23 voting points in Monday’s poll, placing it behind Kentucky, Seton Hall and Auburn among unranked teams.
The Red Storm have blown a second-half lead in all four of their losses.
On Saturday, St. John’s took an eight-point lead with 16:07 remaining. But the Red Storm took nearly nine minutes before scoring another field goal – a stretch in which St. John’s missed seven shots, committed six turnovers and surrendered a 14-0 run to the Wildcats.
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“It’s important to take one game at a time and take things one day at a time,” senior forward Zuby Ejiofor said. “We don’t have many opportunities, so we have to stay focused and keep working.”
St. John’s went 31-5 last season and won the Big East regular season and conference tournament championships. Even though Ejiofor was the only returning starter, St. John’s put together a transfer class that many touted as the best in the country.
Pitino scheduled a brutal non-conference schedule with the intention of determining his roster’s weaknesses early on.
But with losses to Alabama, Iowa State, Auburn and Kentucky, the Johnnies went 0-4 in their toughest four non-conference games. Their best wins are against Baylor in Las Vegas and Ole Miss at Madison Square Garden.
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No. 4 UConn (12-1) is now the only Big East ranked in the top 25. The Huskies’ only loss came to undefeated Arizona, which topped the AP poll for a fifth straight week on Monday.
St. John’s is scheduled to wrap up its non-conference schedule Tuesday night against Harvard at Carnesecca Arena. He resumes Big East play Dec. 31 at Georgetown.
“Every member of the team has to look in the mirror,” Ejiofor said, “and realize that in order to have a successful season, you have to be willing to make changes in yourself.”
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