Ray Floriani looks back at the double-header in the Garden this week

A look back on Wednesday’s MSG doubleheader. St.John’s edged Cincinnati 52-50 for their first Big East win of the season and Dayton enjoyed their trip to The Garden with a 74-58 Atlantic Ten decision over Fordham.

The St.John’s-Cincy game was a return to New York for Lance Stephenson. A prep star of virtually legendary (nicknamed ‘born ready’) status, Stephenson is a freshman at Cincinnati. He leads the Bearcats in scoring with 12.7 PPG and is second in rebounding at 4.8 RPG. The scoring numbers especially, can be deceptive as Mick Cronin’s team often, as tonight, opts for a grind it out half court game.
On the evening Stephenson was less than spectacular. The numbers?: 3/9 shooting, 1/3 fromthe like, 6 points, 5 assists, 5 boards, 7 steals, and 1 turnover.



On the night Stephenson played 37 minutes. Using the NBA efficiency model (PTS+REB+STL+A+BK) - (TO + missed FT+ missed FG), Stephenson checks in with a 6 efficiency total. Dividing that by his 37 minutes the efficiency per minute is .162. Not eye popping numbers to say the least.

In the waning seconds Stephenson threw the ball away for a turnover. St.John’s took advantage of two last second miscues by the Bearcats to pull this one out. The Stephenson turnover didn’t cost the game for Cincinnati but he did note after the game, “I made a bad decision…passed it to the wrong guy. I thought he was open.”

NBA scouts in attendance were not sold on Stephenson. ‘Born ready’ but not ready for June. Some requesting to stay off the record said they would not take him based on past reputation. To his credit, Stephenson’s days at Cincinnati have not seen him as a problem. The only problem is adjusting to life in the rigors of the Big East. Overall he’s been fine. He had 21 points and the winning free throws in his debut against UCONN. The St.John’s game, another story, And proof the Big East can be humbling.

In Dayton’s win over Fordham the leading scorer for the Flyers was not Chris Wright or Chris Johnson, two excellent talents. The leader was a 6-9 sophomore off the bench, Luke Fabrizius , a deadly three point shooter with 13 points. Such are the weapons at coach Brian Gregory’s disposal. And we haven’t even got into discussing the four senior guard combo of Warren London, Marcus Johnson, Mickey Perry and Rob Lowery.

In Fordham’s behalf, they trailed 38-36 with sixteen minutes to go before Dayton’s overall talent and depth took over. Rams have nice young talent in Chris Gaston and Alberto Estwick. The lone contributing senior, Brenton Butler scored a game high 20 points but is really a two trying to fit at the point.

Interim coach Jared Grasso is doing a great job keeping the Rams focused and playing hard to the final buzzer regardless of the score. Hopefully the Fordham administration will do the right thing, scrap that interim status and title. Get Grasso’s name on a contract and make him the new head coach at Rose Hill. NOW!