St. John’s guard Shamorie Ponds scored 20 points by halftime on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and led his team to an 89-69 victory over Marquette before a sellout crowd at Carnesecca Arena on New Year’s night.
Ponds finished with a game-high 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists. He shot 4-of-7 from 3-point range. All five St. John’s starters reached double figures. Marvin Clark II added 22 points and seven boards while making 7-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-6 from 3-point range. St. John’s outshot Marquette from the field 53.6 to 41.9 percent.
Marquette, which had its eight-game winning streak end in losing its conference opener, was led by freshman Joey Hauser’s 15 points.