Through seven games, St. John’s can be best described as schizophrenic.
There is the good St. John’s — the energetic, attacking, defensive dynamo. And the bad St. John’s — the lethargic, jump-shot-minded, sloppy group.
Both teams were on display Saturday afternoon in Brooklyn. Fortunately for the Red Storm, the good side took over late in the first half and never went away.
Overcoming an early 15-point deficit, the Johnnies salvaged their weekend at the Barclays Center Classic with an impressive come-from-behind, 69-58 victory over Georgia Tech in the consolation game.
D’Angelo Harrison kept St. John’s (5-2) within striking distance in the first half, scoring 12 of his team-high 21 points, and JaKarr Sampson made sure St. John’s wouldn’t fall to 0-3 against major conference foes in the second half, pouring in all 16 of his points. Sir’Dominic Pointer had nine points and five steals off the bench and Chris Obekpa added six blocks.
More than any individual performance, though, Steve Lavin’s decision to defend full court late in the first half awoke his sleeping team, resulting in a game-turning 23-5 run that turned a 41-29 deficit into a 52-46 lead.
The Yellow Jackets (5-3) were picked 11th out of 15 teams in the ACC, but they looked like world beaters in the early going against St. John’s, just as Penn State did Friday night, when the Johnnies fell in overtime.
Georgia Tech raced out to a 19-4 lead, as Lavin’s passionless team looked completely lost on the offensive end. St. John’s was held to four points over the game’s first 11:52, a stunning stretch of futility at the mostly empty arena.
St. John’s rebounded from its dreadful start to get within seven at halftime, and took over after the break.