Johnnies stay alive with win over Seton Hall
NEW YORK – The St. John's win streak remains alive — and so do the red-hot Red Storm's NCAA Tournament hopes.
The Johnnies finally found a way to finish off Seton Hall with Thursday's 91-72 victory in the Big East Tournament quarterfinal at Madison Square Garden, setting up a semifinal showdown with No. 2 Uconn.
Six St. John's players scored in double-figures in the win, which marked the Red Storm's sixth in a row and 20th of the season.
With 1:44 to go and the must-win game in doubt, booming chants of “Let's Go Johnnies” roared through the sold-out crowd of nearly 20,000 at The Garden, where St. John's plays the bulk of its Big East home games. Those chants resumed in the game's waning seconds.
RJ Luis led the balanced St. John's onslaught with 18 points, while Joel Soriano, Jordan Dingle and Nahiem Alleyne each scored 14. Daniss Jenkins and Chris Ledlum both added 11.
St. John's (20-12) began the game in attack mode, using a high pick-androll to create mismatches and repeatedly score on drives to the basket. Five of the Red Storm's first six baskets came on layups, including two apiece by Dingle and Luis. The Johnnies shot 18-of-30 and scored 26 points in the paint in the first half.
Luis led St. John's with 10 first-half points, with the last two coming on a buzzer-beating jumper to put the Red Storm up, 45-40, at the break.
The Johnnies then opened the second half of a 9-1 run, scoring on their first three possessions and punctuating the push with a Jenkins 3-pointer to go up by 13. The crowd erupted as Dingle drained a dagger 3-pointer with 9:04 remaining to open a 15-point advantage.
It was a far cry from the last time these teams met on Feb. 18, when St. John's blew a 19-point lead in a 68-62 loss at Elmont's UBS Arena. That back-breaking defeat marked the Johnnies' eighth loss in 10 games, and its seventh loss in a game it led at halftime. Head coach Rick Pitino bemoaned his team's lack of athleticism and toughness afterward, then apologized after his criticisms commanded national scrutiny.
The Johnnies haven't lost since, reeling off five consecutive victories to finish the regular season and clinch the No. 5 seed and a first-round bye in the conference tournament.