At home, St. John’s has proven capable of beating almost anybody. It pushed second-ranked Villanova for 35 minutes, and manhandled NCAA Tournament bubble teams Seton Hall and Marquette.
On the road, the dangerous Johnnies disappear. Their confidence goes missing. They dig deep holes for themselves.
“It’s just a mindset,” sophomore forward Tariq Owens said in a phone interview Monday. “At home, we have the crowd. It’s easier to create the energy. On the road, you have to get yourselves going. You can’t rely on the crowd to get you into the game.”
St. John’s (12-15, 6-8 Big East) enters Tuesday night’s contest at Marquette set up for a strong finish in the Big East, tied with Seton Hall and Providence for sixth place, just a game behind the Golden Eagles for fifth. But to avoid the opening night of the Big East Tournament, when the bottom four teams play just to reach the first full day, the Johnnies will likely have to split at least their final four, and they aren’t easy: Trips to Marquette and No. 23 Creighton, home games against Georgetown and Providence.
The road contests should be the most challenging, particularly because of how St. John’s has fared away from home in the league. The Red Storm are 2-5 on the road, with wins over cellar-dweller DePaul and Providence.
“I think in general there’s a big home-court advantage in our conference,” St. John’s coach Chris Mullin said. “I don’t know the records, but I can tell you most teams play better at home. When we got beat up on the road, we responded well at home. We’re trying to do the opposite, reverse that trend.”
The five league losses on the road have come by a combined 78 points, and they all have one common denominator: Bad starts. The Johnnies have trailed by an average of 15.8 points per game by halftime. They have lacked energy and emotion early on, often sluggish without the crowd to energize them, lackadaisical on the defensive end.
“We have to set the tone, we have to come out and show them we’re there,” Owens said. “Boxing out, [getting to] loose balls [are key]. Shots will come, but we just have to defend, let them know we’re in the building, that they’re not just going to run over us.
“A lot of teams try to impose their will on you [when they’re at home]. We have to show we’re there to fight for a full 40 minutes.”
St. John’s has had a lot of practice learning to play away from home. The Johnnies took part in the Battle 4 Atlantic tournament in the Bahamas, and visited Minnesota, Tulane and Syracuse during the non-conference portion of the season. There have been strong performances.
“I think it’s just a matter of time,” Mullin said. “What it’s going to take is a 40-minute effort. We did it at Providence, so we’ve done it before, and we hope to do it again Tuesday.”
Forward Darien Williams (ankle) is a game-time decision, according to Mullin. He has missed the last two games, but did practice on Monday.
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