Young Storm loses, will play Tuesday in Big Ten tourney

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Mirror images, alter egos, stumblebum look-alikes, Rutgers and St. John's played the kind of game that emphasized the need for Big East Tournament redemption later this week. And it didn't seem to matter that Rutgers earned the conference's No. 11 seed while pushing St. John's down to No. 12.

Rutgers will play No. 14 Villanova on Tuesday night after St. John's meets No. 13 Pitt in the afternoon on the tournament's first day at Madison Square Garden.

But based on the quality of play in Rutgers' 61-58 victory Saturday night, neither it nor St. John's is going to be around for long now that the regular season is over.

Combined, the teams missed 71 of 113 field-goal attempts, committed 28 turnovers and generally lived down to their similarly frustrating seasons.

It took a flying dunk by Rutgers junior Dane Miller with 11.2 seconds to play -- after Eli Carter's miss on a desperation baseline jumper -- to give Rutgers the lead at 59-58.

After Red Storm freshman guard D'Angelo Harrison missed a three-point try with four seconds left, Carter converted both ends of a one-and-one. Harrison could only hit the rim with a heave from midcourt at the buzzer.

Harrison, St. John's leading scorer this season, had suffered through a miserable first half and, upon picking up his third personal foul with 15:26 to play, had shot only 2-for-9 from the field (0-for-5 on three-point attempts), had missed both of his free throws and had more turnovers than assists (five to four).

He finished with a team-high 17 points, with his two three-pointers and a driving layup granted on a goaltending call having given St. John's its largest lead of the night at 51-46 with 5:22 to play.

But that wasn't the end of the shadowboxing (in which few punches were landed) between the look-alike sides.

Miller scored on a pair of putbacks to help Rutgers creep back within reach for his winning slam. Three bench players -- Carter, with 15 points, Mike Poole (11) and Myles Mack (10) -- ultimately made the difference for Rutgers.

Freshman forward Amir Garrett scored 14 for St. John's and the team's old man, junior God'sgift Achiuwa, had 12 points and nine rebounds. Freshman forward Moe Harkless led St. John's with 11 rebounds.

A through-the-looking-glass chaos was at work all night, with St. John's outfitting itself in black and red (Rutgers' official colors) and Rutgers wearing white and red (St. John's hues). Both teams arrived with 13-17 records; both rosters were dominated by freshmen. (The only seniors on either roster were walk-on benchwarmers.)

Both were ranked between the high 100s and low 200s nationally in scoring, rebounding, assists and field-goal percentage and repeatedly demonstrated why. Though there was obvious effort expended by the defenses, both St. John's and Rutgers were more proficient at fouling than anything else through a messy 25-25 first half.

Now, as 2011-12 winds down on St. John's and its all-freshman starting lineup operating for coach-in-absentia Steve Lavin and top assistant Mike Dunlap, there may be a bright future out there. But in terms of this season, that future apparently won't be beyond this week.