Storm one and done in loss to Gonzaga

DENVER -- They hung their heads and tried not to cry as they walked off the court, even though their dream was over. But as they sat in a silent locker room, the tears fell uncontrollably.

On the most important night of their young lives, St. John's players failed to show up on the biggest stage. There were flashes of brilliance and well-timed baskets, but in the end, Steve Lavin's kids picked the worst time to come out flat.

Behind 24 points from Marquise Carter and 16 points from Steven Gray, 11th-seeded Gonzaga crushed sixth-seeded St. John's hopes of advancing in the NCAA Tournament, easily defeating the Red Storm, 86-71, in the second round Thursday night.

"The seniors won't get another chance to play in this atmosphere," guard Dwight Hardy said. " . . . Nobody probably thought we would make it here. It's part of life, man. I don't see nothing wrong with crying. We hate to lose. We feel we should win every game. We come and play our hearts out."

In front of 19,620 spectators at the Pepsi Center, the Bulldogs (25-9) became the third double-digit seed to upset its higher-seeded opponent Thursday. The second-round surprises began with No. 13 Morehead State's win over No. 4 seed Louisville, continued with No. 12 seed Richmond defeating No. 5 Vanderbilt and ended with the Bulldogs' statement win over St. John's.

Hardy led St. John's with 26 points. Justin Brownlee chipped in 14 and freshman Dwayne Polee added 12.

Just the day before, Lavin's seniors had matter-of-factly explained what they needed to do to contain their imposing opponent: force the Bulldogs to play an uptempo game, keep Gonzaga's big men off the glass and make standout guard Gray shoot contested three-pointers all night long.

Above all else, though, they had to win for D.J. Kennedy. They were determined to survive another day for his sake. The 6-5 senior -- the Red Storm's best defender and rebounder -- was sidelined with an ACL injury and watched helplessly from the bench with his right leg outstretched in front of him.

Before Lavin came to Queens, it was Kennedy who carried the program on his shoulders. And at a time when he needed his teammates to carry the load, to extend his senior season another day, it could not be done.

And as a result, the Red Storm's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2002 turned ugly real fast.

"It was tough sitting on the sideline knowing that I could have helped my team if I had been out there," Kennedy said. "I always have faith in my team. We make runs, we're a good running team, but give a lot of credit to Gonzaga."

But his absence, though every bit as "devastating" as Lavin and his players described, wasn't enough to explain such a lopsided loss.

"We didn't play like ourselves," said Justin Burrell, who refused to use Kennedy's injury or the altitude as an excuse. "We didn't do what we do. Gonzaga's a good team. They really imposed their will on us. I'm not sure what happened."

Amid a sea of red and white-clad supporters and T-shirts that read "Do it for D.J.," the Red Storm looked like anything but a No. 6 seed. Instead, the players looked uptight and out of sync, unsure of where to go on offense and how to defend.

The fouls began to mount for St. John's as Burrell picked up his third with 7:18 left in the first half. By halftime, Sean Evans, who made just his second start of the season in place of Kennedy, Justin Brownlee and Dele Coker had two fouls each.

St. John's lack of interior size only complicated matters. Gonzaga, which features two 7-footers, crashed the boards with ease, outrebounding the Red Storm 21-8 in the first half and 43-20 for the game.

"That's what kind of dug the hole," Paris Horne, who scored 11 points, said of Gonzaga's size. "I felt like if we got a lot of boards, we could have gotten more stops and gotten out in transition and gotten more shots."

St. John's trailed by as many as 15 with 2:59 to go in the first half but pulled to within 60-50 on an emphatic dunk by Polee. It was a glimmer of hope in an otherwise dismal night, but the effort proved to be too little too late.

After trailing by as many as 18, St. John's twice cut its deficit to 11 -- first on a Polee tip-in that made the score 72-61 with 3:53 left and later on a three by Hardy that pulled the Red Storm to within 78-67 with 1:28 remaining. Every time St. John's tried to make a run, however, the Bulldogs hit a big shot to steal the momentum.

But through their tears, the St. John's players still were able to put their successful season into perspective.

"It's a hard way to go out and I'm proud of my team, the way we fought through this year," Evans said. "It's bittersweet . . . They outmuscled us today. That's the reason we lost."

Said Polee: "I give all the credit to the coaching staff coming in and putting a new style of basketball in place for us . . . It just changed our style and our whole mind-set."