The emotion was overwhelming.
Rob Thomas, the first of the 10 St. John’s players honored on Senior Night, was in tears before he got to half court. Justin Burrell, sporting the coolest shaved head since Yul Brynner, had to cover his eyes.
Dwight Hardy held the hand of his adorable 3-year-old daughter, Aniyah. D.J. Kennedy carried his cute 3-year-old nephew, Jeremiah. Sean Evans sprinted onto the court as if he had been launched by a slingshot.
The sellout crowd of 5,602 in Carnesecca Arena chanted, “Thank you, seniors! Thank you, seniors.”
Thanks, indeed. The 10 St. John’s seniors that resurrected this program forged through the emotions of Senior Night to post a 72-56 win over South Florida.
“It was a whirlwind of emotions,” said senior forward Sean Evans, whose steal and nasty dunk with 3:35 left started the after party.
“A lot of ups and downs,” he added. “[It] kind of reflects what you’ve been through throughout the years here. It was a moment to remember. A moment I don’t think any of us will ever forget.”
Kennedy had a team-high 16. Hardy added 14. Evans had nine points and nine boards. Augustus Gilchrist led the Bulls with 16.
Next comes the Big East Conference tournament in which the Red Storm (20-10, 12-6 Big East) will have the No. 5 seed and play Wednesday against the winner of Tuesday’s Rutgers/Seton Hall matchup.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. These 10 seniors, who were 11-19 as freshmen penned perhaps the best four-year turnaround in St. John’s history.
“This is so unusual because as far as we know it’s the first time in the history of college basketball there’s been 10 seniors,” coach Steve Lavin said. “I doubt there will ever be 10 seniors in the future; just the odds. The mathematical improbabilities are staggering.”
Staggering? These 10 seniors are the first St. John’s team to win 20 games in the regular season since 1999-2000.
They defeated Duke, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Villanova and West Virginia for the first time in their careers. They asked to wear black jerseys and for the fans to wear black because St. John’s was 0-5 in black. Now they’re 1-5 and a March Madness terror.
The emotion, however, almost turned Senior Night into Fright Night. South Florida (9-22, 3-15) led 32-30 at halftime and erased a 39-34 deficit to tie at 43-43.
“Playing in front of our families and friends. It’s the last game in Carnesecca. We all wanted to play good,” Paris Horne said. “It was a wacky game.”
It got wackier with 10:05 left. South Florida’s 6-foot-11 Jarrid Famous of The Bronx went over Kennedy for a rebound, knocking him to the floor. Malik Boothe, at 5-foot-9, the toughest player in the league inch-for-inch, delivered a forearm to Famous.
“I saw somebody standing over my brother,” Boothe said. “At that moment you just got to go protect your brother.”
Boothe said he wasn’t trying to send a message, but he did. The Johnnies used a 21-9 spurt to take a 64-52 lead with 3:35 left. Evans capped the run with a steal and nasty throw down.
The players took their curtain calls and then they formed a circle at half court with Evans in the middle showing off some serious steps straight out of “Dancing With The Stars.” While Evans stepped, Boothe spoke.
“We came in the middle, Malik is a very aggressive young man,” Evans said. “He came in there, he grabbed us he said, ‘We celebrate now, but we got a lot more ahead of us. It’s not over.”
He’s right. It’s just begun.
lenn.robbins@nypost.com