LAS VEGAS — Oziyah Sellers remembers his conversations with coach Rick Pitino being straightforward:

“Shoot the ball.”

The Stanford transfer is heeding that advice. For the second consecutive day, Sellers sank five 3-pointers, aiding the 14th-ranked Johnnies in bouncing back from a loss to Iowa State with a 96-81 triumph over Baylor at Michelob Ultra Arena.

“Even when I think I’m not really open, he wants me to take the shot,” Sellers explained. “Having his confidence in me makes me want to play freely. So, when I see a chance, I’m definitely going for it.”

Sellers connected on 5-of-7 attempts from beyond the arc and played a team-high 36 minutes. With the senior on the court, St. John’s outpaced Baylor by 23 points. After making just three 3-pointers in the first four games, Sellers has sunk 10 out of 13 from deep in the last two games, clearly finding the rims at Michelob Ultra Arena to his liking.

Bryce Hopkins (26 points) also hit three 3-pointers in as many attempts. He is beginning to look more confident in his perimeter jump shot.

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“It’s just the consistency in the work [we put in],” the Providence transfer said. “As the season goes on and teams try to game-plan for us, I’m that much more confident in taking my shots because I know how much time we’ve put in.”

“I haven’t begged my players very often to shoot the ball, but I begged these two guys to take more shots,” Pitino added, referring to Hopkins and Sellers, “and they did tonight.”

St. John’s has never had a better offensive start to a season through six games, averaging 95.3 points. The previous high, set in 1971-72, was 95.2.

After using a different starting five in each of the first four games, Pitino has used the same starters for the past three games. … The Red Storm’s 11 made 3-pointers on 22 attempts were a season high.