Was it the pizza?
Shortly after St. John’s ugly loss last Sunday to Boston College at Barclays Center, multiple players arrived at Rick Pitino’s home, intercepting his food delivery.
They knew he was upset after the shaky performance.
“Rather than the coach thinking the players were down and thinking we have to build them up, they went the other way,” Pitino recalled.
The Hall of Fame coach was in a much better mood six days later.
In what was their best defensive performance of the season, St. John’s led Fordham wire-to-wire in a get-right, 77-55 victory at the Garden on Saturday afternoon.
One of the players who made the 45-minute drive to see Pitino that night, Joel Soriano, was at his best against his former school.
Soriano, who spent the first two years of college at Fordham, was dominant at both ends — notching 20 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
Chris Ledlum added 11 points, Jordan Dingle had eight and Daniss Jenkins notched eight assists.
All 12 available scholarships players received rotation minutes in the buy-game romp.
The story, though, was about St. John’s defense.
It held Fordham to 25.4 percent shooting, forced 21 turnovers and really never had to sweat, a much-needed performance ahead of the Big East opener Wednesday at Carnesecca Arena against Xavier.
After the Boston College loss, in which St. John’s allowed 86 points and blew a 10-point second-half lead, a visibly frustrated Pitino called the effort on that end “abominable.”
The Johnnies (7-3) were more connected on defense against Fordham.
They dove for loose balls, the needed extra effort that has at times been missing.
Pitino shook up his starting lineup, replacing Dingle with seldom-used reserve Sean Conway, a move that appeared to pay off.
St. John’s certainly was better defensively and took command right away.
It led 8-0 and by 18 just over midway through the first half.
The Johnnies had 11 assists on their first 13 made field goals and their defense was active, harassing, and really the best it has been all year.
St. John’s blocked five shots in the first half, the highlight a Soriano LeBron James-esque chase-down block of a Will Richardson dunk attempt.
It forced 11 turnovers.
Still, the lead was just 11 at the break, as St. John’s went scoreless over the final 2:27 of the period. As much as the defense was strong, it still fouled too much.
Of Fordham’s 28 points in the opening 20 minutes, 13 came at the charity stripe.
The Rams shot just 28 percent from the field and made one of seven 3-point attempts.
Fordham was only down eight early in the second half, and Soriano was on the bench with three fouls.
The Johnnies, however, responded by scoring 12 of the game’s next 14 points to end any thoughts of an upset.
Josh Rivera led Fordham (5-6) with 15 points.
Sophomore RJ Luis (shin splints) and Cruz Davis (left hand) remained out for St. John’s.