After Saturday’s dismal loss to Kentucky, 35.4 percent of the regular season is complete.
Twenty games remain. A season that began with such high hopes, a preseason top-five ranking and dreams of a Final Four run has not gone according to plan.
It’s time to somewhat recalibrate those sky-high expectations. The goal should be to have a strong season in a down Big East, land a seed six or better and reach the NCAA Tournament. That remains realistic.
St. John’s four losses, to Iowa State, Alabama, Auburn and Kentucky, came to teams that are all considerably better than anyone in the league not named Connecticut. In typical Johnnies’ luck, Kentucky finally got healthy just for them. KenPom.com still projects them to win 14 conference games. This is a team that nearly handed undefeated Iowa State its lone loss, losing by one. The Johnnies held leads in the second half against all four of the aforementioned opponents.
