Mullin wins 1st game with St. John's, 66-57 over Wagner
NEW YORK (AP) Freshman Federico Mussini had 18 points and Chris Mullin won his first game as a college coach as St. John's beat Wagner 66-57 on Friday night.
Mullin, the school's career scoring leader who led the Red Storm to their last Final Four appearance in 1985, didn't have win No. 1 win sealed until Mussini, a native of Italy, hit a 3-pointer with a second left on the shot clock to give St. John's a 60-54 lead with 1:16 to play. That matched the Red Storm's largest lead to that point.
Mussini struggled in the team's two exhibition games against Division II teams - a 32-point loss to St. Thomas Aquinas and an 18-point win over Sonoma State - committing 11 of the Red Storm's 45 turnovers and shooting 4 for 11 from 3-point range as the team shot 7 for 36 (18.4 percent). He was 4 of 6 from 3-point range Friday night and the Red Storm were 9 for 20.
His duties as the main ball-handler will be tested throughout the season since the announcement that freshman guard Marcus LoVett was declared a partial qualifier by the NCAA this week.
Corey Henson led the Seahawks with 16 points. Japhet Kadji added 14 and Dwaun Anderson had 11 points and 13 rebounds.
