Tounde Yessoufou totaled 23 points and seven rebounds in an impressive home start for thirteenth-ranked St. John’s, which started quickly and rolled to a dominating 104-65 victory over visiting Iona Sunday afternoon in New York.
After scoring 12 points as a reserve in Monday’s 15-point win over Monmouth, Yessoufou shot 9-of-14 and made four of his seven 3-point tries. He also finished with three steals and two blocks.
Ian Jackson added 17 and Keyshawn Hall contributed 13 for the Red Storm (2-0), who led by double digits for 35-plus minutes.
Quinn Ellis turned in a strong all-around game as the British guard finished with 11 assists, seven points and five rebounds. Zsombo Maronka added 12 and Lefteris Liotopoulos finished with 10 as the Red Storm sat their starters for much of the second.
Ore Odutayo led Iona (2-1) with 12 points and former Red Storm captain Sadiku Ibine Ayo added 11.
The Red Storm (2-0) shined on both ends in the first of 13 regular-season games at Madison Square Garden.
St. John’s had nine steals, forced 19 turnovers and held the Gaels to 40.7% shooting. The Red Storm also shot 55.2% and made 13 of 28 3-point tries.
It was the third time under coach Rick Pitino the Red Storm reached 100 points.
Ellis, Jackson and Yessoufou combined for 18 of the first 20 points as the Red Storm opened a 20-5 lead with 14:03 remaining. Jackson reached double figures with a reverse layup for a 33-16 lead with 8:36 left and Prey’s putback of a missed free throw gave the Red Storm their first 20-point lead with 5:35.
Consecutive baskets by Hall extended the lead to 48-21 with 2:54 left and were part of a 21-4 burst that pushed the lead to 54-23 at halftime.
In the second half, Yessoufou sank a pair of corner 3s and a layup in the opening seven-plus minutes and took a seat for good shortly after the Red Storm took a 77-38 lead.