Time running short for Storm
St. John’s suffered another brutal blow to its NCAA Tournament hopes Sunday, squandering a 19-point lead in an eventual back-breaking loss to Seton Hall.
A 27-5 run fueled the Pirates’ furious comeback during their 68-62 victory at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y., during which St. John’s managed only 21 points and shot just 24.2% from the field in a dreadful second half.
Seton Hall outscored the Johnnies by 18 points after halftime, serving St. John’s its eighth loss in the last 10 games. Seton Hall’s AlAmir Dawes led all scorers with 19 points, while teammate Kadary Richmond finished close behind with 18.
Rick Pitino’s Red Storm fell to 14-12 this season and 6-9 against the Big East.
The latest loss further complicates the Red Storm’s dwindling odds of making the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years. Even before Sunday’s devastating defeat, Fox Sports projected St. John’s among the first four teams to miss the tournament, while ESPN projected the Johnnies among the next four out.
A win would have been significant for the reeling Red Storm, who fell to 0-2 against a Seton Hall team that improved to 17-9 this season and 10-5 in Big East play.
The Johnnies lost their first meeting with the Pirates, 80-65, on Jan. 16 in a game Pitino missed with COVID-19. The Pirates unleashed a 28-0 run in that blowout, during which they outrebounded St. John’s, 49-28, and turned a whopping 21 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points.
St. John’s started hot Sunday, beginning the game on an 8-0 run, opening its 19-point advantage in the first half, and taking a 12-point lead into halftime that represented its largest of conference play.
Back in the starting lineup after a one-game demotion, slumping St. John’s captain Joel Soriano scored nine of the Red Storm’s first 16 points and led all players with 11 at halftime. He went ice cold from there, however, going scoreless for the first 19:41 of the second half.
Following Sunday’s 13-point performance, Soriano – the Johnnies’ leading scorer and rebounder – was averaging 8.2 points per game over his last five. Daniss Jenkins led St. John’s with 17 points Sunday.
St. John’s has five more regular-season games and next month’s Big East Tournament to strengthen its résumé before Selection Sunday.
The remaining schedule includes two games against lowly Georgetown, including this Wednesday on the road, and another against the Big East bottom-feeder in DePaul. The final ranked opponent on the Red Storm’s schedule, No. 17 Creighton, is set to visit Madison Square Garden next Sunday.