Concerning trend emerging for No. 14 St. John's after loss to No. 15 Iowa State

Junior forward Milan Momcilovic was especially difficult for St. John's to contain with 23 points (5-of-9 3PT), including this triple to extend Iowa State's lead to 55-51 with just under 15 minutes to play.

Overall, it was a thrilling game between the two programs, who traded the lead back-and-forth in the final five minutes and put on a show.

Iowa State deserves a lot of credit as it has now put up at least 83 points in all five of its games this season. St. John's was its first ranked opponent of the season, but efficient shooting from the floor and the aggressiveness getting to the charity stripe (20-of-25 FT) paid dividends.

However, this is the latest instance of poor defense from St. John's as well. While Oziyah Sellers (20 points), Zuby Ejiofor (16 points) and Bryce Hopkins (16 points) put together balanced efforts, a better defensive effort could easily have this team at 5-0 this season.

Instead, it sits at 3-2 and is searching for answers defensively. If St. John's wants to take that next step and pick up some signature wins, a more complete defensive effort should be at the forefront after its latest crushing defeat.