No. 22 St. John's overpowers New Mexico at Madison Square Garden

NEW YORK — The Lobos weren’t able to ruin Papa Pitino’s Garden Party.

No. 22 St. John’s dominated the boards and, short of a couple of nice runs in the second half, largely dominated the UNM Lobos on Sunday, 85-71, in front of an announced crowd of 12,310 inside Madison Square Garden.

“Without question we won the game on the backboard,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said.

The Lobos (3-1) looked outmatched and at times timid in the opening half, before cutting the lead to as few as four midway through the second half.

But St. John’s (4-0) outrebounded the Lobos 49-32, 22-16 on the offensive glass, leading to a 25-17 advantage in second-chance points.

It wasn’t something that caught New Mexico coach Richard Pitino off guard, even with his team being so much bigger than it was a season ago.

“I don’t know that surprised is the word. I’m disappointed,” Richard Pitino said of the rebounding discrepancy. “But they’re really big. And C.J. (Noland, the 6-foot-4 guard who started the second half in place of 6-9 Filip Borovicanin) was really good. (We) went with him, so we got smaller there. I thought he was trying to scrap. ... But their perimeter will be one of the bigger teams we play. So not surprised, disappointed that we weren’t a little better there.”

UNM center Nelly Junior Joseph finished with 16 points, but he had just four rebounds and the Lobos were outscored 48-38 in the paint.

Mustapha Amzil joined Junior Joseph with 16 points to lead UNM while Noland added 15 off the bench. Donovan Dent scored 12 points and dished out six assists.

Atiki Ally Atiki led UNM in rebounding with six in just 7 minutes, 35 seconds on the court. No other Lobo had more than four rebounds.

All St. John’s starters scored in double figures with R.J. Luis Jr. leading the charge at 23 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, prompting Richard Pitino to appease the New York media in the postgame press conference by saying he is an NBA prospect.

He certainly looked the part Sunday, with his coach, Rick Pitino, pointing out Luis’ defensive assignment much of the game was on Dent.

Noland scored seven of his points in the first 4:10 of the second half, and UNM made runs on a couple of occasions that had the Johnnies’ lead down to seven — sparking some nervousness in the Garden from the home fans while about a dozen yellow Zia symbol New Mexico state flags began waving in various spots around the arena.

A Junior Joseph bucket with 8:01 left cut what was as much as a 16-point lead down to four, 63-59.

St. John’s guard Aaron Scott answered with one of the Red Storm’s four 3-pointers with 7:34 remaining and a 6-0 run shortly thereafter pushed the lead back to double digits at 72-61, essentially bringing an end to any shot at a Lobos upset.

“This was a tough team to play against, as UCLA found out, because they don’t beat themselves (and) they keep putting pressure on you with pick and rolls,” Rick Pitino said of the Lobos.

That pressure did allow UNM to draw 17 St. John’s fouls and get 18 free throw attempts, but the Lobos hit just seven of them. Their 38.9% clip from the free throw line was the program’s ninth worst in a game since at least 1997, according to KenPom.com.

Amzil hit four of UNM’s eight (of 18) 3-pointers and chipped in three assists.

WHO’S YOUR DADDY? Not that it was an original chant, certainly not one Lobo fans haven’t heard in the past with a past coach and his son being on the team.

But when the St. John’s student section started chanting “Who’s your Daddy?” in the closing minutes of the game when it was clear there would be no Lobo rally, Rick Pitino showed he was no fan, saying “stop” multiple times from the bench and motioning with his arm for them to stop.

“I don’t get mad at the crowd,” he emphasized after the game, but added he didn’t like the chant.

His son, Richard Pitino, was far more accepting.

“Well, as a New York Yankee fan, all you could think of was Pedro Martinez (the former Boston Red Sox pitcher),” the younger Pitino said. “Other than that, I laughed it off. I didn’t think much of it. This is what our obnoxious New York fans do, and I’m part of it.”

Inside Madison Square Garden: New Mexico vs. No. 22 St. John's

RED Storm 85, lobos 71

NEW MEXICO (3-1)

Amzil 6-14 0-0 16, Borovicanin 0-0 0-0 0, Joseph 8-11 0-6 16, Dent 5-12 1-2 12, Washington 3-10 2-3 9, Noland 5-12 3-5 15, Sacko 1-1 0-0 2, Appelhans 0-1 0-0 0, Atiki 0-1 1-2 1, Dotson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 28-64 7-18 71.

ST. JOHN’S (4-0)

Ejiofor 3-7 7-8 13, Richmond 7-14 0-1 14, Smith 7-13 0-1 15, Luis 8-18 4-5 21, Scott 5-10 2-3 14, Wilcher 2-4 0-0 4, Dunlap 1-1 0-0 2, Prey 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 34-68 13-20 85.

Halftime—St. John’s 40-29. 3-Point Goals—New Mexico 8-18 (Amzil 4-7, Noland 2-5, Dent 1-2, Washington 1-2, Appelhans 0-1, Dotson 0-1), St. John’s 4-18 (Scott 2-7, Smith 1-3, Luis 1-4, Richmond 0-1, Wilcher 0-1, Ejiofor 0-2). Fouled Out—Washington. Rebounds—New Mexico 26 (Atiki 6), St. John’s 45 (Luis 11). Assists—New Mexico 19 (Dent 6), St. John’s 20 (Luis 7). Total Fouls—New Mexico 17, St. John’s 17. A—12,310 (19,812).