St. John's coasted to a season-opening win Friday night at Carnesecca Arena, beating Bethune-Cookman, 100-53.

In his collegiate debut, redshirt freshman guard Marcus Lovett scored 19 points, going 5-for-7 from the field while adding a team-best seven assists. Sophomore guard Federico Mussini hit five 3-pointers and finished with 20 points, a game-high.

The Red Storm (1-0) hit half of their 22 threes and ended up shooting 62.3 percent from the field. They also enjoyed a 35-32 rebounding advantage over Bethune-Cookman (0-1).

St. John's went into halftime with a 47-31 advantage, and stretched that lead to 29 points with a 13-0 run to start the second half.

In the first game of coach Chris Mullin's second season at his alma mater, the Red Storm showcased a refreshed roster full of underclassmen. Nine of the 14 players on the St. John's roster are either first- or second-year players, including Lovett and Mussini.

Mussini is the leading returning scorer for the Red Storm, who lost Durand Johnson and his 12.0 points per game average. In a rebuilding year, St. John's took some lumps on its way to an 8-24 record in the 2015-16 campaign.

Sophomore guard Malik Ellison and sophomore center Yankuba Sima evenly split 22 points for the Red Storm.

Bethune-Cookman was limited to a 33.3 percent field goal percentage and also struggled at the foul line, going 8-for-19. Sophomore guard Quinton Forrest led the Wildcats with 12 points and senior guard Diamonte Lewis had 10 points and seven rebounds. Bethune-Cookman went 14-18 overall last season and had a 10-6 record in the MEAC last season.

The Red Storm will play host to Binghamton on Monday night, and their following pair of games will come against Big Ten opponents. St. John's is set to play Minnesota on Nov. 18 and then face No. 12 Michigan State on Nov. 23.