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RJ Luis Jr. buried this corner three-pointer late in the first half. Photo by Jason Schott. |
The St. John's Red Storm scored a massive comeback win over the Georgetown Hoyas on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, as they made up a 15-point deficit to win 63-58.
St. John's is now 15-3 on the season, including 6-1 in Big East Conference play, second only to Marquette (15-2, 6-0).
This is the best overall start for St. John's since its 16-2 start in 1985-86, and best Big East start since it was 6-1 in 1998-99. St. John's made the NCAA Tournament in both seasons, reaching the second round in 1986, and the Elite Eight in 1999.
Georgetown came out firing in this one, as they raced out to a 17-3 at the 11:11 mark of the first half.
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Curtis Williams Jr. burying this jumper from the left side to make it 21-8 Georgetown at the 8:44 mark of the first half. Photo by Jason Schott. |
The Hoyas maintained a 10-point edge, and built it up to 15, at 35-20 on a Micah Peavy fast break dunk at 2:43.
St. John's would close the first half on a 7-2 run to make it a 10-point game, 37-27, at halftime.
That burst of momentum carried into the second half, when the Red Storm opened it on a 19-6 run capped by a Zuby Ejiofor layup at the 12:26 mark, that came after Kadary Richmond forced a turnover, and put them up 46-43. Starting from the tail end of the first half, it was an elongated 26-8 Red Storm run.
Georgetown would respond with a 7-0 run, to which St. John's responded with an 8-0 burst to take a 54-50 lead on a pair of Aaron Scott free throws with 4:31 left.
St. John's never relinquished the lead, with the closest Georgetown coming was when they pulled within a point on a Malik Mack jumper that made it 56-55 SJU at 2:50.
Simeon Wilcher responded with a three-pointer at the 2:07 mark, and then Richmond buried a floating jumper to make it 61-56 with 50 seconds left, and seal the win.
In the second half, St. John's outscored Georgetown 36-21, and Richmond had 10 points RJ Luis Jr. nine, and Aaron Scott eight. Even though they only shot 35.1 percent from the field (13-37) and 30.8% from behind the arc, they held Georgetown to 32.1 percent (9-28) shooting, including 16.7 percent (1-6) on three-pointers.
St. John's was led by RJ Luis Jr., who had 19 points on 7-19 shooting, including 2-7 on three-pointers and 3-6 on free throws, with three rebounds and an assist. This was the 17th time in 18 appearances that he has scored in double figures, and the current Big East Player of the Week has averaged 21.8 points per game in his last four.
Three other players scored in double figures, led by Aaron Scott, who had 14 points (4-10 FG, 4-7 on threes), while Zuby Ejifor (4-7 FG) and Kadary Richmond (5-13 FG) had 10 apiece. Scott and Ejiofor each had nine points and an assist, while Richmond had eight assists and two rebounds. The other starter, Simeon Wilcher, had five points (2-8 FG, 1-4 threes), two rebounds, two steals, and an assist.
Georgetown was led by Micah Peavy, who had 21 points on 9-20 shooting, including 1-2 on three-pointers, with seven rebounds, three steals, and an assist.
PITINO POSTGAME: St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino addressed the media after the game, and he opened with this statement: "My message to the guys during every timeout was, 'Let's just get it to single digits, regroup at halftime and we win it in the second half.' When I talked to them at halftime, I said, 'Look, these other guys are terrific coaches and they scout us well. What they said to their team was, 'you have no chance of winning if you let this team kill you on the offensive glass.' And they just annihilated us on the backboard, and they knew how to beat us with the backboard. In the second half, we really, really picked it up."
On Simeon Wilcher's development: "A year ago, Simeon Wilcher, if he's not playing well, he would get distracted. Tonight, he's not scoring, but he's not getting distracted in key plays. He missed those threes, I said, 'Sim, you got to keep taking it, man, you got to keep taking it.' Next one, he makes it, and then he gets the key back tip, and we get the great block shot."
On his team's resilience: "So, some nights, if you don't have it and you could still win, the word that sticks out more than anything else is fortitude. We had the fortitude to win the game, and they made big plays. It wasn't RJ's best night, it wasn't Zuby's best night, and they all had the fortitude. They refused to lose the game."
On the level his team is playing at right now: "Look, I've been in this business a long, long time. The staff if doing a fabulous job of preparing them. The players are doing a fabulous job of giving me every ounce of perspiration they have, but they're the ones doing the work. I always say this, players make coaches look good, or players can make coaches look bad, and they're making us as a coaching staff look good."
On how his team pulled out this win: "I just thought we got every loose ball, we made every tough shot down the stretch. I think Kadary had his best practice of the season yesterday. He had eight assists and three steals. He's a little underappreciated. He owns up to every mistake he makes. But it wasn't our best night, but they have a strong desire to win, and as a coach, I can't appreciate anything more than that."
On how his team handled Georgetown's zone: "We told them they were going to zone us most of the game. I thought we handled it well. We just need to move to open spots better. We've got to get Simeon Wilcher open shots, we've got to get Aaron more open looks. I thought (Lefteris Liotopoulos) made a big three for us. We just got to get open a little bit better in the zone."
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