Zobe Ejiofor may be starting to find his game.
That's the hope after the big man finally woke up in the second half of No. 22 St. John's 66-45 win over Wagner at Carnesecca Arena.
The 6-foot-9 Ejiofor sat out the start for Vince Ewochukwu, but came back late for all eight of his points, three rebounds, a blocked shot and a steal in 17 minutes of the second half.
“The last two games did not meet my expectations and the expectations of the coaching staff. I did not play with a lot of energy and we are still trying to figure that out,” Ejiofor said. “In the second half, I thought we played a lot better, myself included.
“I've had conversations with the coaching staff. I felt like today was a good starting point in terms of bringing the energy and doing what I can do.
Ejiofor, one of St. John's co-captains, entered the season in a new role as a junior. He rarely played as a freshman at Kansas and was a backup to Joel Soriano last season. This year, the man is expected to be at center for the Johnnies.
“He was never a starter at Kansas or here, and he's going to have to get used to that,” coach Rick Pitino said. “They will go after him.”
Pitino didn't start two of his best players, Kadary Richmond and RJ Lewis, because he wanted to get a look at some other players before a tough series that begins Sunday against New Mexico at The Garden. Instead, Brady Dunlap and Aaron Scott started in their place.
“I know Kadare is ready to play, I know RJ is ready to play. I wanted to see some other lineups,” Pitino said.[Kadary will] He'll probably start every game the rest of the season. “I wanted to experiment a little, see certain things.”
Pitino hopes the game against New Mexico and his son Richard will reach 15,000 spectators. But as of now, this number is unlikely to reach that high.
“I hope people come out and watch this game, because we're going to need them,” he said. “We need to get our Metro alumni back. We have great fans, but we don't have a lot of them.”
