At this time, it is not a question of whether St. John can be chosen from the carpet. He turned out to have a rubber jaw. It’s about how much ferocity the Red Storm will have when they jump back.
Johnnies responded to adversity all year, playing their best in the worst situations. However, Saturday night’s 81-71 victory over Seton Hall at the Carnesecca Arena was their most impressive achievement to date.
St. John’s went 18-0 in less than seven minutes and played without star guard Posh Alexander (thumb twisted). It would have been easy to fold. But this team did not break.
St. John’s continued to fight and attack and overtook Seton Hall by an astonishing 28 points the rest of the way, winning the start to a three-game losing streak against his local rival and sending the Pirates to a fourth straight defeat.
“We certainly have a different culture and I think so [we’re in] a good direction forward, ”said junior Greg Williams Jr.
With the victory coming from behind, Red Storm (16-10, 10-9 Big East) won the fourth seed in the next conference tournament and a winning league season for the first time in six years. A victory or two at the Garden next week – St. John’s will meet No. 5 Seton Hall on Thursday at 3 p.m. in the quarterfinals – and the NCAA Tournament could be in play again.
Without Alexander and Isaih Moore (the “coach’s decision”) every minute, except for the three minutes, coach Mike Anderson went deep into his bench with sterling results. His reserves produced 33 points, including 14 from freshman Dylan Addae-Wusu and 12 from Marcellus Earlington. Rarely used backups Arnaldo Toro and John McGriff provided key minutes, especially on the defensive side.
The team’s top scorer, Julian Champagnie, Big East’s top scorer, remained just that, scoring 22 points, six rebounds and two steals. Williams and Rasheem Dunn each had five assists and five rebounds as they combined for 18 points.
“I think when adversity hits, we stay together,” Williams said. “We did not argue so much with each other or anything like that. We continued to be positive and try to make a difference in the game. ”
St. John’s overtook Seton Hall, 33-32, and burned the Pirates in transition. Johnnies limited Sandro Mamukelashvili to the Pirates star to 15 points, 17 less than he produced in the first meeting between the two teams, a victory at Seton Hall. Mamukelashvili also had 10 rebounds, while Shavar Reynolds added 13 points for Seton Hall (13-12, 10-9).
The first half was bizarre. St. John’s was just as cold from the start, as Seton Hall was hot, missing the first 10 shots on the field. The Pirates grew 18-0 – that’s not a typo – before the Red Storm knew what hit them.
But from there, the team that played so well at the end of this year, which overwhelmed Providence in the second half on Wednesday, reappeared. St. John followed with only 10 at the break and dominated the second half, scoring 26 of the first 34 points after the break. St. John’s won 66% in the last 20 minutes, producing 50 points in the second half for the second game in a row and almost forcing as many turnovers (seven) as many goals on the field allowed (11).
“Our boys played like it was their last game of the season,” Anderson said.
Of course it wasn’t. The Big East Tournament is coming up. St. John’s felt ready for a big race last year, leading Creighton to the top of the quarterfinals, before COVID-19 led to the interruption of the entire postseason. Now, Johnnies will return to the Garden with the chance to finish what they started.
“I’ve been looking forward to this moment,” Williams said, “all this year.”