Red Storm get past Bearcats 70-58 for 1st Big East win
St. John’s got their first Big East win under their belt, beating Cincinnati 70-58 on Saturday night. The Red Storm (7-6, 1-1) used a balanced scoring attack with four players in double figures, led by Anthony Mason Jr. with 17 points. Mason Jr. had 12 of his 17 points in the second half to help St. John’s pick up the victory. Justin Burrell and D.J. Kennedy each had 13 points and Eugene Lawrence finished with 12 points.
Cincinnati (6-8, 1-1) was a one-trick pony on this night in the form of Deonta Vaughn. Vaughn had a game-high 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Vaughn nearly had half of the field goals scored by the Bearcats, as the rest of his teammates only combined to make 13 field goals. Vaughn put the Bearcats up 20-19 early in the first half, but that would be the last lead Cincinnati had. St. John’s used a 14-2 run to close out the first half up 11 points, 33-22.
It was a tale of two runs early in the second half by both teams. Cincinnati used an 11-6 run behind Vaughn and John Williamson to chop the Red Storm lead to six, 39-33. But St. John’s countered with a 9-1 run to build their lead back up to double digits at 48-34 and never looked back. Williamson was the only other Bearcat in double figures, finishing with 12 points.
St. John’s will travel up the East coast to face the Connecticut Huskies on Tuesday night at 7 p.m., while Cincinnati will return home to host Syracuse on Wednesday night at 8 p.m.
Tags: Big East Basketball, Cincinnati Bearcats, NCAA Men's basketball, St. John's Red Storm