Through two Big East games, against a hot-shooting Creighton team and the 12th ranked Providence Friars on the road, Chris Mullin and St. John's (7-8, 0-2) have been relatively competitive, showing signs of promise and hope.
One player that has stood out in a positive way has been freshman center Yankuba Sima, who has scored 24 combined points on 12-of-22 shooting while grabbing 13 rebounds and has been by far the best player on the team. The big man only recorded one block in the two outings and struggled a bit with the physicality of Geoffrey Groselle and Ben Bentil, but his offense is coming along as he has provided the Johnnies a spark on that end of the court.