Garden gives Red Storm Big East advantage
Dwight Hardy (12) reacts after defeating the Pittsburgh Panthers 60-59 at Madison Square Garden. (Feb. 19, 2011) Credit: Christopher Pasatieri
Lots of Big East teams have called Madison Square Garden their home away from home. Connecticut always brings a huge fan contingent; Pittsburgh has made note of its MSG success, and Syracuse's students have worn T-shirts proclaiming the Orange as "New York's team."
But the Garden is home to St. John's (20-10), and though that connection has gone wanting at times in the past decade, it has been revived under Steve Lavin and a team of nine seniors who have a 7-1 record there this season, including five wins over ranked teams. The way the Red Storm sees it, they are defending home turf when it meets Rutgers (15-16) in the second round of the Big East Tournament at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
"I'm not going to be cocky, but I think teams are worried," St. John's guard Dwight Hardy said Tuesday. "They know how good we play there. They consider this their home court, but we all know it's our home court really. If we get that support from our fans and play the way we've been playing there, I don't see why we can't win the Big East Tournament."
Forward Justin Burrell said the Red Storm views the Garden as an extension of Carnesecca Arena, their on-campus home in Queens. "We're very confident in the Garden," Burrell said. "We've played there so much we know the dead spots in the floor; we know if we're shooting on the left end of the Garden, there's a slight breeze at 3 degrees.
"It's a big advantage. We're so excited we get to play there again. If we play with energy and impose our style of basketball, we definitely have a good chance of winning this."
Some teams accustomed to success might consider the tournament something of a bother, an event that could sap energy for the NCAA Tournament. The Red Storm's seniors aren't nearly so blasé. Although they tied for third, tiebreakers dropped them to the fifth seed, so they have to win four games to get a title they last won in 2000.
"To cut down those nets would be the most spectacular feeling besides winning the national championship for us," Burrell said.
First, they have to beat Rutgers, which they beat on a last-second basket by Justin Brownlee. If they do that, they get a shot at Syracuse, the only Big East team St. John's seniors haven't defeated. "For myself," Burrell said, "I would love to see Syracuse one more time."
