St. John’s uses balanced attack to rip Delaware for sixth straight win

St. John’s non-conference finale was representative of the entire slate.

Good, not great.

There were no bad losses, but no big wins.

The Johnnies held serve.

They didn’t suffer setbacks to Boston College or Michigan, losses that came back to bite them last March.

But losses to projected tournament teams Baylor and Georgia were frustrating nonetheless, leaving the Johnnies without a signature victory.

St. John’s still will enter the New Year in good position, expected to make the main draw of the tournament for the first time since 2015.

They closed out the soft portion of their schedule with a 97-76 victory over Delaware of the CAA at Carnesecca Arena on Saturday behind 20 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists from Deivon Smith.

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The Red Storm, winners of six straight, led by 23 points late in the first half and were on cruise control from there.

Their defense coasted after halftime, allowing the Blue Hens to shoot 58.1 from the field after the break, and couldn’t contain sharpshooter John Camden, who scored 35 points and made nine 3-pointers.

Zuby Ejiofor owned the paint, with 16 points and seven rebounds, and RJ Luis added 16 off the bench.

Simeon Wilcher had 12 and Kadary Richmond followed with 10 points and seven assists.

After going just 6-for-28 on 3-point attempts in their first two Big East games, St. John’s was 8-for-12 from deep on Saturday.

Smith hit half of them, making four of eight.

The Johnnies were also plus-11 on the glass and plus-16 in points in the paint.

The schedule gets much tougher from here, a New Year’s Eve date in Omaha, Neb., with perennial contender Creighton.

That’s followed by Butler coming to Queens and a visit to Xavier.

St. John’s (11-2) started this guarantee game far better than recent ones.

Instead of toying with an overmatched opponent, the Johnnies flexed their muscles.

They were sharp on the defensive end and quickly built a double-digit lead.

The 3-pointers were dropping early — St. John’s made its first four attempts — and led by as many as 23 in a one-sided opening half.

Smith was the best player on the floor, producing 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Ejiofor followed with 10 points and five rebounds and Wilcher had seven.

Smith spearheaded an 11-0 run, capping it with a 3-pointer on a Richmond dish that produced a 13-point bulge. The ball moved well.

St. John’s had 11 assists on its first 13 made baskets and shot a robust 55 percent from the field.

St. John’s defense coming out of the break left something to be desired.

Delaware made eight of its first 13 shots to hang around and trailed by 17 at the under-12 timeout.

The Blue Hens were getting into the paint, creating open looks from beyond the arc.

Still, the result was never in doubt. Delaware didn’t get any closer.