St. John’s tops Georgetown in Big East Tournament opener
Tariq Owens of the St. John's Red Storm reacts late in the game against the Georgetown Hoyas during the first round of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, March 7, 2018. Credit: Steven Ryan
The storm was brewing, and then the Storm was here.
As the weather did its worst outside, inside Madison Square Garden, St. John’s Red Storm brought a tempest all its own. Forget the fact that they lost 11 straight games in conference play this year — the magic of March means it doesn’t matter — and don’t get too caught up on how Wednesday night’s rival, Georgetown, beat them twice this year. During this first-round game of the Big East Tournament, St. John’s proved to be a true force of nature, beating back the Hoyas over and over until Georgetown had to cede to the relentless barrage staged by Shamorie Ponds and company.
Led by Ponds, who scored 26 points in his return from an abdominal injury, No. 9 St. John’s came from behind to defeat No. 8 Georgetown, 88-77.
All around them, the crowd at the Garden became gleefully caught up at the display: energetic play and showmanship, all of which helped St. John’s overcome an eight-point deficit late in the first half and a handful of smaller deficits in the second. Meanwhile, on the sidelines, Chris Mullin and Patrick Ewing continued the rivalry that began decades ago, and one that won’t die any time soon.
“I have a bitter taste in my mouth,” Ewing said. “They have a lot of talent on that team. They’re very well coached and you have to be able to play your ‘A’ game when you play that team . . . and we didn’t play our ‘A’ game.”
The Red Storm faces No. 1 seed Xavier at noon Thursday.
St. John’s had five players score in double digits, including Justin Simon who had 16 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and six assists. The Red Storm outscored the Hoyas 40-18 in the paint, and they outscored the Hoyas 46-29 in the second half.
“[We count on] Justin and Shamorie to make the right reads and they were exceptional tonight in the second half,” Mullin said. “Their command of the reads and command of their teammates was exceptional.”
Perhaps sensing that one of their greatest advantages was the crowd, the Red Storm briefly became masters of drama. They landed back-to-back alley-oops, one from Simon and another from Tariq Owens, to cap a 12-1 run and send a jolt through the Garden. After the second one, Simon — who had the assist on Owens’ dunk — walked to midcourt, raising his hands in the universal gesture for “get loud.”
“That definitely gave the team a little spark,” Simon said. “In the second half, we stepped up defensively, we got more aggressive and rebounded the ball.”
St. John’s — which broke that pitiful losing streak earlier in the year with huge victories against Duke and Villanova — was far from done. Traveling on the momentum of the first half, they pounced on a gassed Georgetown early in the second, scoring the first five points. They took brief leads in the first few minutes before the Hoyas’ Trey Dickerson hit a layup to tie it at 59. But Owens’ layup a minute later created a sliver of room, and Ponds’ off-balance jumper created a little more.
St. John’s scored the next four, on Ponds’ foul shot and Simon’s three-point play, facilitated by Ponds’ booming block on the other end.
“We showed we could compete with anybody in the country,” Ponds said. “Our mindset going into this tournament is one game at a time and we can do anything.”
After all, when a Storm gets rolling, who can really stop it?
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
