St. John’s vs. Texas: Can the Longhorns Afford to Leave Babacar Sane?

Hall and Jackson can draw extra attention. Ellis can deliver the pass. Sane’s opportunity is to make Texas regret sending help.

By Jason Safford | Relentless Redstorm

Sunday at Madison Square Garden, St. John’s and Texas will fight to make each other pay for the same defensive choice: leaving one threat to stop another.

If Keyshawn Hall beats his defender or Ian Jackson reaches the lane, Babacar Sane may be the player Texas leaves to stop them. His task is to find a passing lane before the defense closes it. A timely finish could do more than add two points. It could make Texas less willing to leave him the next time.

Sane does not need to dominate the ball to change how Texas defends it.

No. 13 St. John’s faces No. 7 Texas in an exhibition Sunday, October 25, at Madison Square Garden. Tipoff is at noon Eastern, with coverage on MSG Network and ESPN+.

First, force Texas to help

Hall and Jackson each scored 24 points in the four-overtime victory over Rutgers. Quinn Ellis finished with nine assists and one turnover. Those performances give St. John’s a starting point: scorers who can command attention and a passer who can connect their opportunities to someone else’s.

But Texas does not have to cooperate.

If the Longhorns contain the first attacker without committing another defender, there may be little for Sane to exploit. Hall and Jackson would have to win their individual matchups often enough to make staying home the worse option.

Even getting past the first defender would not settle the possession. David Punch blocked 66 shots at TCU last season, a reason to distinguish reaching the lane from finding an easy finish. His production does not establish Sunday’s coverage, but it makes the next defensive decision worth studying.

A drive into a waiting rim protector is one problem. A pass behind a defender who has stepped toward the ball presents another.

Ellis has to deliver the pass while the advantage still exists. Too late, and his teammate may catch the ball facing a recovered defense. The receiver has to remain visible to the passer, then recognize whether the next defender has left a finish or another pass available.

The passer and receiver have to see the same opening before Texas can close it.

Sane needs the right touches, not simply more

Sane’s Rutgers performance offers both a reason for interest and a warning against easy conclusions. He scored 13 points and collected six rebounds in roughly 15 minutes. He made six of eight attempts inside the arc, missed all four threes and committed three turnovers.

Ellis assisted Sane layups with 18:42 and 17:11 remaining in the second half against Rutgers, producing two baskets early in St. John’s comeback. Those possessions offer a reason to follow their connection, not a guarantee that Texas will surrender the same openings.

Against Texas, the question is whether Sane can become available at the moment a defender commits elsewhere.

A useful cut would begin as his defender turns toward the drive, not after the ballhandler has run out of options. It would also lead somewhere the pass can reach. Running toward the basket accomplishes little if Sane enters the ballhandler’s path or arrives behind another defender.

Being unguarded and being available are not always the same thing.

The turnovers matter here. More touches would not automatically make Sane more influential. A clean catch with room to finish could help more than several possessions spent trying to manufacture a shot against a defense that has already recovered.

Texas could also choose to give him room on the perimeter while protecting the lane. In that alignment, an open three might be part of the defensive plan rather than a breakdown.

Four misses against Rutgers do not define Sane’s shooting. One make Sunday would not necessarily change the coverage, either. The more revealing evidence would come afterward: whether his defender moves closer and whether St. John’s uses the space that adjustment creates.

That is how Sane could matter without becoming the busiest scorer. A productive catch could change the next possession before he touches the ball again.

Texas can reverse the question

The same choices await St. John’s at the other end.

Matas Vokietaitis, Texas’ 7-foot center, shot 61.9 percent from the field and attempted 284 free throws last season. His production makes the location of his catches, and the cost of contesting them, central to the matchup.

For Ruben Prey and Reed Bailey, the first contest may be for position rather than a blocked shot. Making Vokietaitis receive the ball farther from the basket could allow teammates to stay with their assignments. Repeated deep catches would make that harder.

A defender who holds his ground without needing help could protect more than the rim. He could keep a teammate from having to abandon someone else.

But that work would remain unfinished when the shot goes up.

Rutgers collected 18 offensive rebounds across the four-overtime exhibition. The extended game matters when reading that total, but Sunday’s requirement is unchanged: St. John’s has to turn contested shots into possessions of its own.

When a frontcourt defender challenges Vokietaitis, the players around him must account for the rebound. When someone leaves an assignment to help, another teammate must find the opponent left behind. Otherwise, a difficult first attempt could become an easier second one.

The offensive X-factor might finish a cut. The defensive one might prevent the rotation that makes such a cut possible.

Both would be changing what the other team can afford to do.

Judge what happens after Texas adjusts

The most revealing stretch may begin after Sane gives Texas a reason to change.

If his defender stays closer, Hall or Jackson could gain room to attack. If Texas sends help from elsewhere, Ellis has to identify the teammate it leaves. St. John’s must recognize the new opening rather than force the old one.

That is the test of Sane’s influence: not simply whether he scores, but whether Texas changes where it sends help.

Watch his movement during the drive. Then watch his defender on the next trip.

The X-factor may not be the player Texas cannot guard. It may be the one Texas can no longer leave.