Harrison, Garrett lead Storm past DePaul
D'Angelo Harrison of St. John's brings the ball upcourt during the game against DePaul. (Feb. 20, 2012) Credit: Errol Anderson
Technically, it was senior night at St. John's, whose only senior honored was walk-on Boris Brakalov. In reality, it was "Fresh Five night.'' The Red Storm's five starting freshmen beat a young DePaul team that started two freshmen and three sophomores, 79-72, Monday night in front of a Carnesecca Arena crowd of 5,110.
Coming off Saturday's non-conference win over UCLA that stopped a four-game losing streak, St. John's kids once again demonstrated their resilience. They survived a game-long full-court press by the Blue Demons (11-16, 2-13 Big East) and showed their mental toughness in a battle with 14 lead changes.
D'Angelo Harrison led the way for the Red Storm (12-16, 5-10) with 23 points and six assists, but Amir Garrett, who joined the team for the second semester, had his best game with 18 points and nine rebounds. Moe Harkless (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Phil Greene (10 points) rounded out a balanced effort.
DePaul was led by Cleveland Melvin with 18 points and 15 rebounds and got 17 points from Brandon Young and 15 from Jamee Crockett, who was 1-for-11 from three- point range. The Blue Demons were 6-for-31 from beyond the arc.
Garrett's play came as a welcome surprise. He scored nine points in a 15-8 run to open the second half, giving St. John's its biggest lead of the game at 52-43, and converted 9 of 11 free throws.
Speaking of how his confidence has grown, Garrett said: "In the first part of the season, I was scared to take shots. I didn't want to mess up. Now I'm calming down . . . I've been in the gym shooting a lot of free throws.''
Foul shooting is a critical part of the game that has been stressed by assistant coach Mike Dunlap, who is running things while head coach Steve Lavin continues his recovery from prostate cancer. St. John's made more foul shots (25-for-36) than DePaul attempted (16-for-21), which had a hidden benefit.
"Every time they foul, it's like a timeout,'' Dunlap said. "For us, the press opens it up. They gave us some easy baskets. They play a running style. We love it because it's an open style.''
The Blue Demons overcame that nine-point deficit to take a 58-57 lead on a dunk by Crockett with 8:36 to play. The lead changed hands three more times, but Harrison and Harkless totaled 11 of St. John's next 13 points for a 70-64 lead with 4:08 left, and the Red Storm made 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.
Unlike a week earlier, when St. John's followed a tough loss at Georgetown with a 30-point blowout loss at Seton Hall, the "Fresh Five'' showed how much progress they have made with back-to-back wins two days apart.
"We're trying not to make as many mistakes,'' Harrison said. "You can't pout on this team because you've got to get back on defense and make up for it.''
It's called progress.
