The fans – and only an announced crowd of 9,924 showed up for last night’s St. John’s-Georgetown game at the Garden – don’t even care enough to boo anymore.
Oh, there was a mock cheer when Justin Burrell banked in a jumper with 4:34 left in the first half. That was the Red Storm’s first field goal and trimmed their deficit against the Hoyas to 31-7.
It was that bad. It was so bad that when walk-on Bryon Jansen nailed a 3 at the buzzer, it gave Georgetown a 74-42 win, the worst Big East Conference loss in St. John’s history.
“I’m [ticked],” said St. John’s coach Norm Roberts. “I’m [ticked] at myself. I’m [ticked] at the whole situation that we didn’t get them ready [to play], and our is to get them ready and we got to be tougher than we are. We got to make the plays when they’re there.”
St. John’s (7-12 overall, 1-7 in the Big East), didn’t make any hustle plays, made only 10 baskets, committed 19 turnovers (five assists), hit just 1-of-14 3’s and allowed Georgetown to shoot 53 percent from the field.
Georgetown (17-2, 7-1), playing without injured forward DaJuan Summers, got a shockingly easy win. The only run St. John’s went on was from the court to the locker room.
“They are a Big East team and this conference is tough,” said Harlem’s Jessie Sapp of Georgetown, who had 10 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals. “When they didn’t make a run, I was surprised.”
St. John’s has lost six straight, matching its longest streak since 2005-06. The Red Storm had no player in double figures. Even worse, they had no players with floor burns.
“You come out every day to win the game,” said Anthony Mason Jr. “You don’t come into the game to lose. Who goes in with that mindset?”
Well, last night it seemed as if the team wearing red and white went into the game hoping it wouldn’t lose. The score was 41-14 at halftime.
On Jan. 6, 1982, Georgetown took a 42-9 halftime lead en route to a 72-42 win in the Garden. But the Redmen, as they known back then, won 21 games that season. The next season St. John’s won the Big East.
This year’s team won’t even get to the Big East Conference tournament.
G’town 74 St. John’s 42