St. Johns getting big jump in competition during stretch that will set the tone

The start has been fun.The national ranking is good for optics.

Three 20-point wins to start the year, a feat St.John’s hasn’t accomplished since 1983-84, shouldn’t be dismissed no matter the caliber of opponent.But now we begin to find out about Rick Pitino’s Johnnies.

Starting Sunday against New Mexico and Pitino’s son Richard at the Garden, followed by three games in four days in the Bahamas that is highlighted by a meeting with No.12 Baylor, St.

John’s will get tested.It will get pushed.

It will get challenged.“I feel like people are going to learn that we can play with anybody, we can go out there and compete and look good doing it,” sophomore guard Simeon Wilcher said Friday.“What we’re going to figure out about each other is how we stick together through the ups and downs.

Every game is not going to be perfect and great.It’s all about the response when stuff starts to not go our way.“Not to disrespect any of the teams we’ve played,” he added, “but it’s definitely a big jump.”St.

John’s certainly seems more prepared for a step up in competition than it did at this time last year.Remember, it had only one tune-up game before being walloped at the Garden by Michigan, which wound up as one of the more disappointing teams in the country.From there, the Johnnies were fortunate to go 2-1 in the Charleston Classic, scraping past North Texas, losing to Dayton and knocking off Utah.The competition will be considerably better this year.New Mexico (3-0) is coming off an impressive neutral-site victory over then-No.

22 UCLA and returns two key pieces from its NCAA Tournament team a year ago in dynamic guard Donovan Dent and physical forward Nelly Junior Joseph, who played under Pitino for two seasons at Iona University.Baylor, despite a lopsided season-opening loss to fourth-ranked Gonzaga, is a popular Final Four pick.

If St.John’s gets past the Bears, it would likely face No.

11 Tennessee the following night.The trip ends ...