St. John's uses gaudy first half to pummel DePaul

Jordan Dingle and Chris Ledlum scored 19 points apiece and St. John's put together a historic offensive performance in the first half en route to a 104-77 victory over DePaul on Tuesday night in Chicago.

The Red Storm (18-12, 10-9 Big East) scored 54 points before the break, their most in the first half of a conference game since the 1995-96 campaign. That outburst came thanks in large part to a 30-6 run over the final 8:19 of the period.

At the tail end of the surge, St. John's connected on 10 consecutive field-goal attempts.

DePaul (3-27, 0-19) was within 24-22 before the game-changing run. The Blue Demons ended up losing their 18th straight game, watching as the Red Storm matched a program record for points scored in a Big East game.

Simeon Wilcher supplied 12 points, while Daniss Jenkins, Nahiem Alleyne and RJ Luis Jr. each chipped in 11 for St. John's, which won its fourth straight game. Ledlum led the Red Storm with eight rebounds.

Chico Carter Jr. amassed a game-high 23 points for DePaul. He also had five boards and six assists. Da'Sean Nelson finished with 11 points and Elijah Fisher threw in 10.

The Blue Demons kept the game close over the first 11-plus minutes of the first half behind a hot start by Carter, who made his first four shots from the floor. A layup from Jaden Henley with 9:05 to go until halftime was what made it 24-22, then St. John's took over.

Following the break, the Red Storm led by as many as 44. For the game, St. John's shot a scorching 60.3 percent from the field and 52.2 percent from 3-point range. DePaul connected on 50.9 percent of its shots overall and went 10-for-17 (58.8 percent) from deep.

With the victory, the Red Storm completed a two-game sweep of the season series between the teams. St. John's also won back on Feb. 6, 85-57.

—Field Level Media