St. John’s Basketball Has Concerning Achilles Heel Arising

The St. John’s Red Storm have played two exhibition games thus far against the Drexel Dragons and Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

They have come away victorious in both contests, defeating Drexel 81-52 at Carnesecca Arena before beating Rutgers in a four-overtime marathon contest, 104-99 at Madison Square Garden. While both games were wins, the path to get there was vastly different.

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St. John’s dominated the Dragons from the opening tip, using their athleticism to their advantage. The Scarlet Knights were a bigger, more physical team that gave the Red Storm some real fits in the first half. It was encouraging to see them settle in and battle back in the second half to get a win.

However, there is one concerning development that arose in both contests: 3-point shooting. An Achilles’ heel for St. John’s in recent years has been their inability to consistently shoot from long range, and it looks to be an issue again for this roster.

3-point shooting looks to be weakness for St. John’s

Jan 3, 2026; New York, New York, USA; The center court logo for the St. John’s Red Storm at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It is still incredibly early, with players developing chemistry, given some of the eligibility concerns on the roster. However, this roster looks to be short on legitimate shooting threats from the perimeter.

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Against Drexel, the Red Storm shot only 7-of-29 from 3-point range. Babacar Sane connected on three out of his four attempts, meaning the rest of the team shot 4-of-25 combined. Two of those makes were from Ruben Prey and Keyshawn Hall, who both went 1-for-2.

Unfortunately, against Rutgers, it was more of the same. St. John’s shot 6-of-30, with Ian Jackson and Hall being the only players to knock down multiple attempts from distance. Jackson was 2-for-7, making him 2-of-12 through two exhibition games, while Hall was 2-for-6.

Sane’s inconsistency with his jumper was on full display, as he…

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Publish date : 2026-10-20 00:00:00

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