St. John’s Has Weapons, if Not the Consistency
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When he’s hot, St. John’s guard Marcus Hatten is one of the most dangerous scorers in the nation.
It would be just UCLA’s luck that the 6-foot-1 senior guard would show up sizzling today at Pauley Pavilion.
Hatten led the Big East Conference in scoring last season and has registered 30 and 31 points in his last two games. He also is an accomplished thief, finishing fifth in the nation with an average of 3.3 steals last season.
The Red Storm (7-4) is finding it difficult to improve its image from a scrappy team fortunate to make the NCAA tournament to a Big East power. St. John’s is best when Hatten is dominant, and sometimes even that isn’t good enough.
The junior college transfer scored 30 against Providence on 13-of-24 shooting Wednesday, but St. John’s lost, 75-71.
Normally as quick with a quote as he is with a shot, Hatten had little to say.
“We’re making it very tough on ourselves to get where we want to go,” he said.
The arrival of freshman point guard Elijah Ingram has enabled Hatten to move from the point to shooting guard. Last season, St. John’s was last in the Big East in assists, second to last in assist-to-turnover ratio, and last in three-point shooting.
Ingram has made an immediate impact, averaging 11.4 points and leading St. John’s with 25 three-point baskets.
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Desperate for victories, Bruin Coach Steve Lavin has shortened his bench, eliminating freshman center Ryan Hollins from the rotation and restricting the minutes of center Michael Fey and guard Jon Crispin.
Hollins has not played in the last four games, last logging two minutes in garbage time at Kansas. Fey, also a freshman, did not play against USC and has averaged 5.6 minutes the last five games after averaging 15 in the previous four.
Crispin averaged 13 minutes the first seven games, but he has played a total of eight in the last three and did not leave the bench against USC.
Benefiting have been guards Ryan Walcott and Cedric Bozeman, whom Lavin believes share the ball effectively, and post player Josiah Johnson, who has been effective in spurts substituting for Andre Patterson or T.J. Cummings.
