As the final seconds slowly, agonizingly, methodically ticked off the Garden clock (even a second seems a little longer when Pittsburgh is the opponent) the discouraged players on the St. John’s bench were so quiet you could hear an NCAA Tournament at-large berth drop.
The Red Storm had come into this game dreaming Big Dance dreams. A win over the 20th-ranked Panthers would have had members of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee texting each other.
But dreams turn into a fitful night’s sleep when Pittsburgh is pulling off the covers and stealing the pillows and elbowing and kicking and snoring. When the horn sounded like a Little Ben alarm clock, the Johnnies lay dazed on the floor, 63-47 losers.
The 47 points marked the lowest scoring game of the season for St. John’s (16-11, 8-7 Big East). The Johnnies scored a meager eight points in the final 12 minutes of this demoralizing late-season loss.
“What I talked about after the game was that in this league, often times it comes down to who can sustain a grinding, methodical style of play that will allow you to be successful,’’ St. John’s coach Steve Lavin said. “We’ve grinded out some wins. Today Pittsburgh had the upper hand in terms of sustained, on the grind and methodically dismantling us.’’
St. John’s, a team comprised of mostly freshmen and sophomores, is done using youth as an excuse. But it is not coincidence that six of the Storm’s seven league losses have come against rosters comprised of older and physically more mature players.
Pitt (21-7, 9-6) is not as athletic as St. John’s — and possibly not as talented. But led by senior guard Tray Woodall of Brooklyn, who had a season-high 25 points, the Panthers wrapped both hands around the Johnnies and squeezed for 40 minutes.
After St. John’s took its first lead of the game at 31-30 early in the second half, Woodall scored eight straight and Pitt kept applying pressure until the Johnnies were lifeless on their bench. The Storm made just 7 of 27 shots in the second half (25.9 percent) and a meager 2 of 13 for the game on 3-point attempts.
“We are a mature team,’’ said Woodall. “We got some experienced guys that handle themselves very maturely.’’
The Johnnies showed subtle signs of immaturity. D’Angelo Harrison went 1-for-12 from the field, which happens to shooters, but he let it affect the rest of his game. JaKarr Sampson had a team-high 14 points, but he also had two turnovers and no assists.
St. John’s has six days to prepare for a challenging stretch run that starts at a hot Providence team on Saturday and concludes with a game at No. 25 Notre Dame and home against No. 17 Marquette. Two wins would get the Johnnies back in the NCAA Tournament conversation but with 9,129 fans in the building just looking for a reason to jump on the Red Storm Express, St. John’s got dismantled.
“We squandered an opportunity,’’ Lavin said. “We need to get some wins both in the regular season in the conference tournament to continue to build a case or have an argument for us being in the NCAA Tournament.’’
* Guard Jamal Branch saw his first action after missing four games since suffering a sprained left knee on Feb. 2 at Georgetown. He was 0-for-2 in three minutes. … St. John’s will get a bye in the first round of the Big East Conference Tournament. Rutgers, DePaul, Seton Hall and South Florida have secured the dubious distinction of playing on the opening Tuesday.