St. John’s Rolls Past Nebraska, 70-50, in Gavitt Tipoff Games

Thursday, November 17

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

6:30 p.m.

St. John's University

Nebraska

St. John’s Rolls Past Nebraska, 70-50, in Gavitt Tipoff Games

11/17/2022 11:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Red Storm men’s basketball team outscored Cornhuskers by 27 in the second half to improve to 4-0 on the season

QUEENS, N.Y. – Joel Soriano delivered a monster performance on Thursday inside Carnesecca Arena, posting career-highs with 17 points and 18 rebounds to help lead the St. John's men's basketball team to a 70-50 victory over Nebraska (2-1) in the Gavitt Tipoff Games. Soriano's career-high 18 boards were the most by a St. John's player since current staff member, Zendon Hamilton, pulled down 18 on Jan. 29, 1997 versus Rutgers. With the victory, the Johnnies improve to 4-0 for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign.

David Jones anchored the Red Storm's 50-point outburst in the second half, scoring all 15 of his points on 6-of-12 shooting with three 3-pointers in the stanza. The junior wing from Santo Domingo also grabbed seven of his eight rebounds in the final 20 minutes of action.

Junior guard Andre Curbelo helped orchestrate the Johnnies' surge in the second half with his stellar play on both ends of the floor. Curbelo was a menace defensively making four steals. He facilitated on offense with seven assists to go with seven points. Curbelo's backcourt mate Posh Alexander was the third Red Storm player in double figures, finishing with 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting.

After a lethargic first half performance from both teams, the Johnnies quickly erased a seven-point deficit as Soriano scored five points during a 7-0 run to pull even with the Cornhuskers just over two minutes into the half. The St. John's run ballooned to 28-6, as the Red Storm took full control of the contest after Jones scored eight-straight points followed by an Alexander layup that put the Johnnies up 48-33 at the 10:20 mark.

Freshman guard AJ Storr scored all five of his points within 25 seconds to spark another 16-5 run that put the Red Storm on top 65-43 with 4:19 remaining. St. John's led by as many as 25 points in the final minutes of action.

Montez Mathis added eight points on 4-of-8 shooting to go with three rebounds and a pair of assists. O'Mar Stanley contributed three points, five rebounds and a career-high three blocks. Soriano also swatted three shots. Junior guard Dylan Addae-Wusu finished with two points and four boards.

St. John's outscored Nebraska 40-22 in the paint and converted 17 turnovers into 21 points.

The Johnnies also outrebounded its opponent for the fourth-straight game, pulling down 52 boards which is the most since grabbing 51 last season against NJIT on Nov. 27, 2021.

The Red Storm outscored the Cornhuskers, 50-23, in the second half shooting 52.6 percent (21-40 FG) from the field and 45.5 percent (5-11 3FG) from 3-point territory. After coughing up 10 turnovers in the first 20 minutes of action, St. John's had only three miscues the rest of the contest.

Nebraska was led by Keisei Tominaga who scored 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting with three 3-pointers in 24 minutes off the bench. As a team, the Cornhuskers shot just 29.7 percent (19-64 FG) from the field and 18.5 percent (5-21 3FG) from distance.

St. John's carries its four-game win streak into the Empire Classic at Barclays Center next week. The Johnnies begin play Monday against Temple at 9:30 p.m. on ESPNU followed by a matchup with either Syracuse or Richmond on Tuesday.