St. John’s desperately needed a big man - and Tariq Owens awoke
For the second straight time, freshman Marcus LoVett was named the Big East Freshman of the Week, an honor already claimed by classmate and St. John’s teammate Shamorie Ponds four times this season.
The talented young guards — two of the conference’s top-six scorers — have superseded their hype, consistently carrying the Red Storm after one of the worst seasons in school history. It already is apparent the backcourt could soon be the Big East’s best because each player is selfless enough to defer to teammates and confident enough to want the ball in his hands.
But the Red Storm finally are getting a glimpse of the potential in their frontcourt, too.
Entering Wednesday’s game at No. 24 Butler (19-6, 8-6), St. John’s (12-14, 6-7) has won two of its past three games — over Marquette and Seton Hall — with 6-foot-11 Tariq Owens sparking two of the team’s best all-around performances of the season.
Owens, who leads the Big East with 2.4 blocks per game, recorded his second career double-double (10 points, 12 rebounds) and had four blocks in a season-high 34 minutes during Saturday’s win over the Pirates. In the upset of Marquette, Owens had 11 rebounds and three blocks.
“I’m not saying other games I wasn’t going hard, but after talking to my dad and talking to the coaches, I felt like there was another gear that I could give to the team,” Owens said Tuesday. “I felt like I could bring more to the table than I was. … These last few games, I’ve just been trying to take it up another notch. Things are coming together now.”
Even Owens has been “a little surprised” by his play. Sitting out last season after transferring from Tennessee, the redshirt sophomore wasn’t sure what he could accomplish this season.
“Some of my expectations I just blew out the water,” Owens said. “A lot has changed since the beginning of the year and I now know what the coaches expect from me. I know what’s expected of me from my teammates as well. I’m an energy guy. I bring the energy. I bring the talk. … That’s just kind of been my role through the years and that’s a role I have here. I try and do whatever I can to help the team win. If it’s to score, then I’ll score, if not, just to get rebounds, I’ll just be chasing rebounds all night.”
Looking to stun the Bulldogs for the second time this season, Owens stressed his need to have another big game on the glass, where St. John’s small frontline has been abused for large stretches of the season.
As the only player taller than 6’8 seeing consistent minutes, the slender Maryland native realizes the impact his play in the paint can have.
“We have a lot of players who are offensively gifted, so I try to focus on the smaller things,” Owens said. “I’ve been trying to grab more rebounds because a lot of times we lose the rebounding battle, [and] that is reflected on the scoreboard for sure.”