St. John's went on a 20-6 late in the first half to take control and the Red Storm went on to beat Seton Hall 78-70 on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York.

St. John's game plan worked to perfection -- attack the rim with its athletic front line and let two left-handed freshman guards control the tempo of the game.

Guards Marcus LoVett and Shamorie Ponds scored 12 and seven points, respectively as the Red Storm broke open a close game in the final minutes of the first half.

LoVett finished with 19 points, five rebounds and six assists. Ponds tallied 17 for St. John's (12-14, 6-7 in the Big East).

Sophomore forwards Tariq Owens and Kassoum Yawke each recorded three first-half blocked shots to frustrate the Pirates, specifically Angel Delgado.

In the teams' first meeting on Jan. 22, Delgado scored 21 points and grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds in Seton Hall's 86-73 win.

On this day though, Delgado struggled, with only three first-half points and four turnovers. Delgado finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, his 19th double-double of the season.

Forward Desi Rodriguez scored 13 first-half points to keep the Pirates in shouting distance. Rodriguez finished with 17 points for Seton Hall (15-8, 5-6).

Playing close games as been the norm of late for the Pirates. They were on a two-game winning streak, with both wins coming in overtime by two points against Georgetown and Providence.

But this game was never close after the first 10 minutes. The Red Storm repelled every run the Pirates made in the second half, as the lead ballooned to 14 points when Federico Mussini's layup made the score 63-49.

Seton Hall needed the win, as the Pirates face a stretch of three games against ranked opponents starting with No. 24 Creighton, followed by No. Villanova and No. 24 Xavier.

Seton Hall hits the road to face No. 22 Butler next on Wednesday.