The scene in the hallway that leads from the court to the visitor’s locker room in Carnesecca Arena was one usually seen reserved for March at NCAA Tournament first round sites.
An underdog whooping and cheering, jumping on each other’s backs, celebrating the upset of school from a power conference.
March is a long way off but one thing is certain this season: If St. John’s has any intent on playing in the NCAA Tournament, a lot is going to have to change in the second half of the season — the Big East Conference season when the opponents are going to be bigger, deeper and more talented than UNC-Asheville that stunned the Johnnies 72-65 last night.
“There isn’t any aspect of play we don’t need to improve on,’’ said St. John’s coach Steve Lavin, after his team blew a 17-point first-half lead and a 15-point second half lead.
When the Red Storm blew a seven-point lead against Murray State in the Charleston Classic, that was a neutral site game. When they led Baylor by nine and got jettisoned down the stretch, that was against the No. 16 team in the nation, also on a neutral site.
But last night the Johnnies (8-4), winners of 6-of-7, were in the friendly confines of Carnesecca. There were no excuses — the Johnnies had six days since their last game, finals were over and the debut of Texas A&M transfer Jamal Branch added some early mojo.
It didn’t matter in the final 10 minutes when UNC-Asheville (5-7) took it to the Johnnies. The Bulldogs outscored them 22-8 in the paint in the second half. They out hustled St. John’s, as reflected by a 17-4 edge in second half points. They committed just four turnovers in the second half after fumbling the ball 11 times in the first half.
“We did some dumb things out there, offensively and defensively and we didn’t stay consistent,’’ said UNC-Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. “But I’m going to have to live with that a little bit this year. We have a bunch of good players but the inconsistency drives me nuts.’’
In that case Lavin must be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Granted, he has a young team — all freshmen and sophomores — but they are 12 games in and still making the same mistakes. When asked if his team needed to getter tougher, Lavin’s one-word response was quick and decisive.
“Sure,’’ he said.
What’s most alarming about last night’s collapse is the Johnnies seem to have drank their own Kool-Aid. When asked if there was concern about the postseason possibilities, star guard D’Angelo Harrison, whose late turnover sealed the Red Storm’s fate, sloughed off the questions.
“We believe that we can beat some of the top teams, overcome these losses,’’ said Harrison, who finished with 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting. “So it really doesn’t matter.’’
These losses do matter. Of the 12 opponents St. John’s has faced they lost to arguable the four best — Murray State, Baylor, San Francisco and UNC-Asheville. There’s really only one quality win — the 77-74 squeaker over Detroit. This is not an NCAA Tournament at-large resume in the making.
The Johnnies’ next game is Jan. 2 at Villanova, the start of the Big East season. A lot has to change. Lavin gave eight-of-10 players at least 10 minutes. He mixed and matches lineups which might explain why the Red Storm has no offensive rhythm down the stretch.
Leading 54-42, St. John’s stalled. Jeremy Atkinson, who scored a career-high 31, started knocking down 3’s and the Bulldogs bit off a 23-4 run to take a 65-58 lead. The Johnnies fought back to tie at 65-65 but with UNC-Asheville up 68-65, Harrison threw a bad pass that was picked off with 14 seconds left.
“Basically not putting the game away,’’ guard Phil Greene IV said. “We had them down. We just collapsed.’’