Missed free throws doom St. John's

Yesterday's oxymoron for St. John's: costly free throws.

It wasn't just that St. John's missed 14 of 26 shots from the foul line in a 53-51 Big East Conference loss to Cincinnati. Specifically, with 33.9 seconds left and St. John's leading 51-50, senior Dwight Hardy - the team's most accurate marksman from the so-called charity stripe - was fouled and sent to the line for a gift-wrapped one-and-one opportunity.

He missed the front end and St. John's paid a dear price when Cincinnati's 6-9 junior Yancy Gates, bumping and jostling in the post with St. John's 6-8 defender Justin Burrell, banked home a 12-foot jumper, drew Burrell's foul and completed the deciding three-point play with 8 seconds remaining.

Though St. John's (11-7, 4-4) still had a final gasp, Hardy's driving bank shot that glanced off the rim and Burrell's desperate missed tip at the buzzer, the losing hand already had been dealt St. John's.

"I'm a 90-percent free-throw shooter," a glum Hardy said. "I should've made that shot."

Not that the outcome hadn't been completely in doubt throughout the rugged defensive scrap, mostly enjoyed by the first sellout crowd (5,602) at Carnesecca Arena in two years. The momentum lunged back and forth, especially in the final minutes of each half.

An eight-point St. John's lead - its largest of the game - became a six-point 28-22 edge for Cincinnati (17-3, 4-3) in the last 6:22 of the first half, during which time St. John's failed to score a field goal and made only one of two free throws.

Cincinnati's biggest advantage - seven points at 44-37 with 8:03 to go - likewise vanished down the stretch as St. John's "delivered," coach Steve Lavin said, "on all three of the areas we emphasized before the game."

Lavin's players took care of the ball, with only nine turnovers after a season-high 25 in Thursday's loss at Louisville. They "played through the post; they competed and played aggressively for 40 minutes," he said.

"As we clanked free throw after free throw, it speaks to the fact that we were doing other things well, but that's what makes the loss that much more heartbreaking and frustrating."

Hardy, who scored all 10 of his points in the second half, repeatedly gave his team a lift, ending with a thread-the-needle bounce pass for Burrell's layup and free throw that gave St. John's its first lead of the second half at 49-48 with 4:03 left.

Alas, St. John's would not make another field goal. Senior D.J. Kennedy also finished with 10 points and Burrell had a team-high 10 rebounds, but Cincinnati easily won the battle on the boards, 39-25.

Gates was the game's leading scorer, with 13, and guard Cashmere Wright - whom the St. John's student section mocked for a long stretch following his first-half air ball - answered the jeers with all of his 10 points in the second half.

"Just a typical Big East battle, I guess," Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said.