St. John’s latest late-game letdown may be end of NCAA Tournament hopes
PROVIDENCE, R.I. The script just doesnt change. Not over the last month.
Time and again, St. Johns has led a quality opponent at halftime. And on each occasion, it gets outplayed over the final 20 minutes.
It happened against No. 1 Connecticut and twice against No. 4 Marquette, and history repeated itself again Tuesday night.
A five-point lead vanished quickly. The defense was nowhere to be found.
The offense couldnt execute nearly enough and settled for ill-advised shots.
And, as a result, the Johnnies NCAA Tournament at-large hopes feels all but over barring a winning streak to end the season.
Providence owned most of the final 20 minutes like so many of St. Johns opponents have of late, and went on to a 75-72 victory, sending the skidding Johnnies to their seventh loss in nine games.
We intend to win our final six games, Rick Pitino said after the Johnnies fell to 2-8 in Quad 1 games. It has held halftime leads in six of those losses.
3Friars forward Josh Oduro shoots the ball over guard Sean Conway during St. John’s 75-72 loss to Providence. Eric Canha-USA TODAY SportsPitino shook up his starting lineup, replacing struggling center Joel Soriano with Zuby Ejiofor.
While Ejiofor had some bright moments, he dealt with foul trouble and Sorianos problems didnt improve. He managed just nine points and seven rebounds before fouling out with 3:29 left, and was soundly outplayed by Providences Josh Oduro (28 points).
The Friars (16-9, 7-7) shot 54 percent from the field after halftime, and St. Johns failed to hit a 3-point shot in the second half for the second straight game.
The backcourt of Daniss Jenkins and Jordan Dingle combined to score 21 points on 8 of 24 shooting. RJ Luis had 16 points and 14 rebounds to lead St. Johns (14-11, 6-8) and Sean Conway added 11.
3 Red Storm guard Daniss Jenkins shoots as Providence guard Devin Carter defends. Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports## see also
Rick Pitino benches captain Joel Soriano in huge St. John’s shakeup
Its not fun losing on the road, but Im really proud of these guys, Pitino said. They fought their asses off the entire night. Its just that we couldnt guard their center in the low post, and that destroyed us.
He added: We should be able to guard him one-on-one in the low post. Were taller. We should be able to guard him, so thats something we have to work on.
The Johnnies, down seven late, got even on a Jenkins jumper with 1:45 left. But they let Corey Floyd Jr. score on the other end after he beat the press and Oduro pushed the lead to four with 41.5 seconds left.
St. Johns did have a shot to tie it in the final seconds, but Dingle and Jenkins both missed badly. Pitino opted not to use a timeout, because he figured Providence would foul if he did.
I was thinking about it the entire time, but I know theyre going to foul and as long as we get a look at the basket, its OK, he said.
Down 13 early on, St. Johns closed the first half on a 23-5 run, taking a five-point lead into the break.
The momentum was short-lived, as has so often been the case over the last month. Providence quickly retook the lead with a 10-2 run, with Oduro scoring eight points in the spurt.
The Friars pushed the lead to six after a Devin Carter drive and had outscored St. Johns by 11 at that point in the second half. The Red Storm never led again.
It was exactly a month ago that this season seemed so full of promise. St. Johns was tied for first place in the Big East, off to its best league start in 23 years at 4-1. Everything has gone wrong since.
3Providence forward Rich Barron shoots the ball over St. John’s Daniss Jenkins. Eric Canha-USA TODAY SportsStop with the 4-1, its ridiculous. Its who youre playing when you play them, Pitino said. I keep telling you were not a great team. We are going to win the Big East, we are going to go to NCAA Tournaments.
Its not just not going to be this year, winning the Big East. Its my first year. Give us a chance to develop the program. Its not realistic in this conference to come in the first year and just kick everybodys ass.
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