Like their conference mates DePaul, St. John’s has found ways to lose games in the Big East. Non-conference was one thing, with good success, but winning in the Big East has been a whole different ballgame.
The latest example: leading by five late on Monday night, before Xavier scored the final eight points to beat the Red Storm 77-74 at Madison Square Garden.
Xavier actually led for a lot of the evening, including the second half, and for a moment it looked like the Red Storm would have a reversal of fortune for a change. With Xavier up 61-58 just over nine minutes into the second half, St. John’s then ran off ten unanswered points to take a 68-61 lead. Xavier would get within one at 70-69, then the Red Storm scored on consecutive possessions to go up 74-69 with just over two minutes left.
Then the wheels came off. A missed three-pointer, a missed jumper and a missed front end of a one-and-one all happened as Xavier would go on to regain the lead. The Red Storm had one more chance in the final seconds before Xavier further sealed it with two free throws.
St. John’s is now 14-12 overall, but 3-10 in Big East play. Two of the wins are over DePaul. Five of the ten losses have been by five points or less, and only once have they been out-classed, when Georgetown blew them out by 21 in Washington, D.C. in the third game of Big East play. As if all of this isn’t enough, the Red Storm will likely be without star guard Mustapha Heron for the rest of the season due to an ankle injury.
This is the same St. John’s team that did lose to Vermont and Arizona State, but came on to beat West Virginia and Arizona in non-conference play. They didn’t play a bunch of stiffs, either, as a few other teams are at least contending in their conference. They didn’t put up an 11-2 non-conference mark against one team after another with NET ratings in the 300s.
But conference play is always a different beast, and we see it all the time. It is perhaps more noticeable in mid-major conferences since teams that do well in non-conference tend to have conference losses held against them. Those losses come because familiarity is there and helps teams even when they might not be as talented or deep. St. John’s has now had to go through that, and they’re having a rough go of it. Monday night was just one more cruel night for the team.
Side Dishes
In other big TV games, Notre Dame rallied from a 15-point deficit to hand North Carolina their sixth straight loss, 77-76 in South Bend, while Kansas rolled over visiting Iowa State 91-71.
Other results of note: North Carolina A&T scored a convincing 77-60 win over NC Central to stay right with Norfolk State, who handled Coppin State 80-60, among those at the top of the MEAC; Bucknell went on the road and blew out Holy Cross 69-48; and Prairie View A&M held off Jackson State 70-61 to stay a game ahead of Texas Southern, 93-79 winners over visiting Grambling, at the top of the SWAC.
After the game at Prairie View, things got out of hand late in the handshake line. Prairie View A&M guard Darius Williams and Jackson State guard Dontelius Ross had an exchange where Williams appeared to bump Ross, and Ross tried to go after him, starting with taking a swing that didn’t connect. The two appeared to be held back okay by their respective teammates, but all of a sudden things erupted at the other end of the floor as Jackson State’s Khalil Spencer ran into a Prairie View player.
The ACC has come out in favor of a one-time transfer exemption just like the Big Ten did recently. The conference office said the matter was discussed at their annual winter meetings, and “unanimously concluded” that athletes in any sport should be able to transfer once without sitting out. This will give more momentum to the proposal the Big Ten put forth last year.
An MRI confirmed what was suspected with UConn forward Akok Akok, which is a completely ruptured left Achilles tendon. The freshman suffered the injury early in Sunday’s win over Memphis and was the American Athletic Conference leader in blocked shots.
Tonight’s Menu
The action picks up this evening, with a good percentage of important games on the slate.
- The Big Ten gets going early with Illinois visiting red-hot Penn State (6:30 p.m.), then Purdue goes to Wisconsin (7 p.m.) and Northwestern goes to Maryland (8 p.m.)
- The SEC also starts the night early with slumping Tennessee hosting in-state rival Vanderbilt (6:30 p.m.), then Arkansas tries to get back on track as they go to Florida (7 p.m.), and the big matchup of the night is later on as LSU hosts Kentucky (9 p.m.)
- In Big 12 action, Oklahoma State tries to keep some momentum going as they head to West Virginia (7 p.m.), then Oklahoma hosts Baylor (9 p.m.)
- Second place is on the line in a Northeast Conference matchup as Robert Morris heads to Saint Francis U, while conference leader Merrimack makes the short trip south to visit Bryant (7 p.m.)
- Atlantic 10 action features Dayton hitting the road to visit a VCU team that could use another quality win (8:30 p.m.)
- The lone Big East game on the night should be a good one as Creighton visits Marquette (8:30 p.m.)
- Mountain West action closes out the night as Colorado State visits UNLV (10:30 p.m.)
