Somehow, Wagner had the chance to get even deep into the second half.
Carnesecca Arena was silent, stunned at the possibility that the newly ranked Johnnies were flirting with such a disastrous defeat.
No. 22 St. John’s had looked out of sorts all night, disconnected on the offensive end, unable to put quality possessions together.
It was a two-point game and Wagner had the ball.
Ja’Kair Sanchez had the ball on the right block, and soon it seemed the NEC school would be square.
Except, Kadary Richmond, quiet for so much of the evening, finally made a play. A big play.
Richmond didn’t just block the shot.
He swallowed it, keeping possession.
A few seconds later, he found Deivon Smith for an open 3-pointer in transition.
The crowd exhaled. St. John’s (3-0) was not going to play around with its food anymore.
It reeled off 18 consecutive points in the span of 5:06 and cruised to a 66-45 victory from there.
All of a sudden, the 3-pointers started falling, four of them in the run from four different players, Aaron Scott, Smith, Brady Dunlap and Zuby Ejiofor.
Still, the first 30 minutes were concerning. St. John’s was outrebounded by a far smaller team.
It was outworked. It missed 11 free throws and committed 14 turnovers. It was completely out of sync.
There was a 6:29 scoring drought in the second half.
Ultimately, it woke up in time.
RJ Luis led St. John’s with 13 points, Scott added 11 and Simeon Wilcher had nine.
Richmond tallied seven assists and Smith followed with nine points and eight rebounds.