The NCAA Tournament disappointment is over. The NIT is now the focus. And top-seeded St. John’s is out to win a championship.
The road begins Tuesday night against No. 8 Robert Morris at Carnesecca Arena in Queens. The Johnnies are hoping to prevent the Northeast Conference regular-season champion from pulling another shocker, as it did last year when it went into Rupp Arena and stunned the Wildcats.
“They beat Kentucky last year and won their league this year,” junior guard and leading scorer D’Angelo Harrison said. “They’re well-coached and are going to be a tough team to play. We have to come ready to play. We’ll be ready.”
This is the third year in four seasons with Steve Lavin as coach St. John’s (20-12) has reached the postseason, the best stretch for the program since 1998-2000, when it made three straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
The Johnnies were on the NCAA Tournament bubble after closing the regular season with 11 wins in 14 games, but a late-season loss to Xavier and Big East Tournament quarterfinal setback to Providence, which went on to win the tournament, sent them to the NIT along with fellow top-seeds SMU, Florida State and Minnesota.
For a team with several underclassmen, Lavin thinks it will benefit from the tournament.
“Anytime you get postseason experience, whether it is the NCAA or the NIT, it gives your younger players a chance to develop,” Lavin said. “We start three underclassmen and we saw the development of this team as we went along over the course of the season. In particular freshman Rysheed Jordan began to blossom, so this is a great opportunity to move our program forward.”
St. John’s won its first postseason game in 14 years last season, beating St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia at the buzzer on a Sir’Dominic Pointer shot. It followed that up with a loss at Virginia. The plan is to get further this year.
“Our group is committed, and we’re going to play until we can’t play anymore,” Harrison said. “We have a chance to play on our home court, so we’re going to take advantage.
“We’re glad we got the No. 1 seed so that we can play at home and we’re going to try and win out. It’s all home games for us, so that’s a big advantage and we’re looking forward to it.”
If victorious, St. John’s will face the winner of No. 4 Green Bay and No. 5 Belmont in the second round. The semifinals and the championship games are played at the Garden April 1 and 3.