St. John’s winning streak came to an end Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia at the hands of ninth-ranked Villanova. The shorthanded Johnnies dropped a hard-fought 57-54 decision at Wells Fargo Arena, a game that was there for the taking.
The loss snapped St. John’s six-game winning streak and dropped coach Steve Lavin’s team to fifth in the Big East, though it trails Xavier — its opponent Tuesday night at the Garden — and Providence by just a half game.
Before Tuesday’s must-win, let’s rehash Saturday afternoon’s disappointing loss below:
Harrison made the right play: D’Angelo Harrison made the smart and correct basketball play. Let’s be clear about that. With 14.1 seconds left and St. John’s trailing by two, he drove the lane, and saw an open teammate, Phil Greene IV cutting along the baseline, and delivered the pass. Greene, perhaps not expecting the pass, hesitated and tried to put the ball on the floor, then pass back to Harrison. He was called for traveling.
I want Harrison taking that shot, even in a game he shoots just 4-of-15. Harrison had hit two big shots down the stretch, a 3-pointer and a tough runner, and he’s come up aces late in so many games of late and throughout his career.
I’m not faulting him for not taking it. It was the right play. But at that moment, with the game on the line, being selfish isn’t a bad thing.
Obekpa impresses again: Forget his one point and three rebounds in 24 minutes. It hardly told the story. Playing on one good ankle, five days after he was expected to miss as much as 14 days with a sprained right ankle, the sophomore center gave a truly gutty effort, putting forth — in my opinion — one of his finer defenses performances of the season.
Obekpa blocked three shots, but he changed so many more, and intimidated Villanova on countless drives in the paint, forcing over-passing or contested perimeter jump shots.
St. John’s desperately needed Obekpa with forward Orlando Sanchez in Providence, R.I. with his recovering wife Flor Esthefani Sanchez and their newborn baby girl Ysabel Angela, and the Nigerian native came up big. His presence in the starting lineup also sent a message to his teammates how important this season is to him.
Tournament chances remain good: After Saturday’s loss, a number of so-called experts said St. John’s now needs to win the Big East tournament, a notion I find ludicrous.
Before the Villanova game, I felt the Johnnies had to win three of their four games to assure themselves of an at-large berth. Nothing has changed. If St. John’s wins out, beats Butler and DePaul at home and Marquette on the road, they will likely finish third in the conference, which in my opinion would assure Lavin’s team of a spot in the field of 68 despite just one win over a top 50 RPI opponent. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, known for his accurate mock Bracketology, has the Johnnies in as of now. The Big East is getting at least three teams, and most likely four, if not five, teams in the Big Dance.
Win two of the last three, and St. John’s has to play well in the conference tournament. Point is, the Red Storm have a manageable schedule. They control their own destiny.