Simeon Wilcher scored a career-high 17 points in an impressive start to his sophomore campaign as St. John’s began its second season under coach Rick Pitino by rolling to a 92-60 rout of Fordham in New York on Monday night in the season opener for both teams.
Picked fifth in the Big East preseason poll, the Red Storm never trailed and got a steady performance from Wilcher, who averaged 2.8 points as a freshman last season.
Wilcher went 7-for-9 from the field on Monday.
Kadary Richmond, who enjoyed an impressive debut for St. John’s after spending the previous three seasons with Big East rival Seton Hall, totaled 16 points and nine rebounds as the Red Storm controlled the glass by a 39-31 margin.
Aaron Scott and RJ Luis Jr. added 12 points apiece as St. John’s shot 54.5 percent overall and won its 11th straight season opener.
Jackie Johnson III scored 17 of his 23 points in the first half and made 8 of 19 shots for the game for Fordham but had little help. Joshua Rivera added 11 points, but Japhet Medor and Will Richardson were held to a combined 13 points on 4-of-19 shooting from the field.
Fordham began its third season under coach Keith Urgo by shooting 36.4 percent from the floor and committing 19 turnovers.
After the game was tied in the opening minute, the Red Storm scored nine straight points for a 12-3 lead on a layup by Scott with 13:50 left in the first half. Fordham recovered from the slow start and trailed 19-17 on a Rivera 3 with 7:54 left, but St. John’s made its final eight shots and outscored the Rams 21-9 over the remainder of the half for a 40-26 lead at the break after Johnson sank a trey at the horn.
Wilcher extended the lead to 47-31 by converting a layup with 15:57 left in the second half before a 3 by Brady Dunlap and a dunk by Vincent Iwuchukwu hiked the lead to 56-36 with 11:49 to go, essentially sealing the victory.
–Field Level Media
