As Cosmo Kramer said in the hit sitcom, “Seinfeld”, “We’re about to miss the death blow.”
Not the case. St. John’s fans saw it first hand this afternoon, as they were handed what could’ve been a death blow to their March Madness hopes and dreams, as they fell to the Pitt Panthers by a score of 59-57 on a stunning last second shot from guard Jamarius Burton with just 0.4 seconds to go, on a baseline drive that turned into a fade-away stunner.
The Guaranteed Rate Gotham Classic showcase games were slated to feature the Seton Hall Pirates and Iona, Gaels in addition to this contest, before COVID snuck its little head through the locker room in South Orange, and cancelled the second of two contests at Madison Square Garden, on Saturday afternoon.
In addition to COVID issues in the Gotham Classic, St. John’s star forward Julian Champagnie tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday afternoon, but wasn’t announced until Saturday morning, when rumors began spreading that he was not in the building, and did not make the trip to Manhattan.
St. John’s was able to put together a 10-point lead against the Panthers in the first half, where it led the opposition 23-13. Purdue transfer Aaron Wheeler, who replaced Champagnie in head coach Mike Anderson’s starting lineup, tallied the games first three, and beyond.
Sloppy play for the Panthers gave St. John’s a 6-0 run that eventually saw the Red Storm have their lone double-digit lead of the contest. Fordham transfer Joel Soriano hit a three-pointer in the 10th minute of the contest, which put St. John’s on a 15-3 run.
Pitt started their comeback with contributions all around the floor, and all over the roster for Jeff Capel, a his team narrowed the Red Storm lead to as little as three 26-23 in the latter parts of the first half. In that time, St. John’s had been in a shooting rut, where they had only converted one-of-eight from the floor. Pitt, on the other side, had converted three-of-four from distance equating to nine points.
Down the stretch, the Johnnies needed help from some of the supporting cast, and were unable to buy a bucket from Aaron Wheeler, Montez Mathis, and Stef Smith. One player, who did stack the scoresheet, was the aforementioned Soriano, who finished the afternon with 10 points, four blocks, and nine rebounds. Soriano also converted four-of-six from the field.
The second half also featured a decrease in shooting percentage for both programs, where the Johnnies only hit nine shots in 31 tries the floor. And converted a grand total of seven free-throws in 14 tries total. In the closing moments of the contest, Dylan Addae-Wusu tallied the games tying free-throws, when it mattered, before Capel and Company drew up the play that saw his Pitt team come away with the upset victory on his side of the floor.
On the flip side, the Panthers converted 23-of-28 from the charity stripe.
Multiple stretches for both St. John’s and Pitt plagued both programs, but when it mattered most, the Panthers prevailed in the waning moments of the contest, with a Burton baseline drive, and fadeaway bucket for the 59-57 victory.
“He made a play, have to give him credit.” said head coach Mike Anderson. “I knew in my heart we had another stop in us, and I thought he was there, but that’s what happens when you let a team hang around so much. They keep hanging and hanging, and it turns around to bite you.”
Anderson was asked about the teams’ inability to close out the contest at Madison Square Garden, “It just came down to not making the plays. We had four turnovers at halftime, and ended up with 14, and we always talked about our defense being a big part of what we do. When you get a chance to score, it backs up your defense. But, I think our guys were fine, and let’s give Pitt some credit – they didn’t give up on plays. You look at the game so dramatic, but neither team shot well. They got to the free-throw line 28 times, that double of how much we did. And there lies the game right there.”
Well, Anderson has that right.
Final shooting percentages from the contest sit at 22-for-63 from the floor for the Red Storm, while the Panthers chucked up 50, and landed just 16 through the cylinder for a 32 percent clip.
Points off turnover were nine each, where Pitt had four more than St. John’s (18 to 14). Second chance points were in favor of Pitt 10-6. The bench for St. John’s was outstanding this afternoon, as they outscored Pitt in that category 24-7.
Posh Alexander finished with 11 points, 5 assists, 5 steals, and seven rebounds. Tariq Coburn only played 2:53 of the first half, landed one bucket, tallied one personal foul, and didn’t see game action the rest of the way.
Looking ahead for the Johnnies, their opening Big East battle with No. 16/15 Seton Hall was cancelled due to COVID-related issues within the Pirates’ program, so the Red Storm will gain a victory in the standings (1-0), but miss out on a grand opportunity at an Associated Press Top-20 victory.
As for Thursday’s contest for St. John’s against Butler, they will certainly be without star forward Julian Champagnie, who now has to quarantine for 10 days, and then will have to go through cardiac sessions per sources, in order to get back up to game speed. If our math is correct, 10 days from December 17, will be December 28, one day before Shaka Smart and the Marquette Golden Eagles fly into Carnesecca Arena red hot.
If the Johnnies want to see March Madness, they have to get their act together with or without Julian Champagnie and find solutions. Otherwise, there may be more death blows on its way from their future opponents that include the aforementioned Butler and Marquette, but then also at Georgetown, and home against DePaul on January 5.
