St. John’s survived Tuesday night, but now has a big reason to worry about the next 10-14 days.
On a night a win meant nothing but a loss would have meant everything, the Red Storm rebounded from a poor first half at the Garden and walloped last-place Butler, 77-52, to win their sixth straight game, but it was the first of at least three games that will be played without starting center Chris Obekpa, who suffered an ankle injury during Monday’s practice, which was only announced two hours before Tuesday’s tip.
An MRI exam revealed that Obekpa, the Big East’s leader in blocks — and school’s all-time leader — suffered a sprain and a bone bruise, expected to sideline the sophomore center up to two weeks.
Obekpa, the Red Storm’s most valuable defender, almost certainly will be out for the next two games, each with major NCAA Tournament implications — at Villanova on Saturday and home against Xavier next Tuesday.
JaKarr Sampson, who carried the Red Storm (18-9, 8-6 Big East) on Tuesday with a career-high 23 points along with eight rebounds and two steals, said though Obekpa’s absence can alter many things, the team can’t allow it to change anything.
“It is different,” Sampson said. “He’s one of our leaders on defense. … So we’re going to miss that, but were going to come in the same way.
“We just got to stick to what we’ve been doing, even with him out.”
Sampson said he could see the Bulldogs’ faces “light up,” without the imposing paint presence, as Butler (12-14, 2-12) relentlessly attacked the rim with little fear of recourse. Khyle Marshall bulled his way to 16 points and seven rebounds in the first half to give the Bulldogs a 33-30 halftime lead.
Facing the surprising deficit, St. John’s coach Steve Lavin reminded his players of their 0-5 start in conference, and how three weeks of exhilarating and inspiring play could be moot without 20 minutes more.
At halftime, he asked his team a simple question:
“Do we want to throw away the opportunity to do something special this year and we’ve worked so hard to position ourselves to be able to do something unique?”
St. John’s incredible run — nine wins in its past 10 games — continued as it opened the second half on a 14-2 run. The Red Storm limited Butler to 20 percent shooting in the half, with a switch to a zone defense.
Sampson’s play was strong on both ends, which included 11-of-15 shooting, while helping silence Marshall, who had zero points and zero rebounds in the second half.
“When [Sampson] sustains focus and he’s present or engaged at both ends of the floor, then his athleticism comes to the forefront and the skill and fluidity separates him as a really special player,” Lavin said.
As the game turned from nail-biter to blowout, a chant emerged from the newly confident fans, bewildered by the season less than one month ago:
“We want ’Nova! We want ‘Nova!”
Sampson said, “That’s going to be a big win if we can go down there and get that win.”
A big win — one that would be the biggest of the season — that will have to come without their big man.