St. John’s knew the season was on the line. Providence did, too.
The two bubble teams entered Thursday’s quarterfinal game of the Big East Tournament knowing a loss would likely end any hope of reaching the NCAA Tournament.
Even after the Red Storm spent the previous few days talking about how much they wanted this win, Providence proved it wanted it more, overpowering and outworking St. John’s frontline in a 79-74 de facto road win at Madison Square Garden.
“They had more energy than us, out-hustling us and everything,” said JaKarr Sampson, who scored nine of St. John’s first 10 points, but then went more than 26 minutes without a point.
Providence “manhandled” St. John’s on the glass, according to guard Jamal Branch, jumping out to a 17-point second-half lead, with Kadeem Batts, LaDontae Henton, Tyler Harris and Carson Desrosiers combining for 44 rebounds — 19 more than the quartet averaged during the season.
The Friars scored 17 second-chance points, with Batts and Henton combining for 29 points against a St. John’s frontline providing little resistance and less effort.
“We didn’t play any paint defense,” Sir’Dominic Pointer said. “We weren’t playing hard enough. We got to do a better job of boxing out. We got to play harder.”
Noticeably absent during the second half was Chris Obekpa, who picked up two early fouls and was sent to the bench after being whistled for his third, 1:23 into the second half, with the Friars up 38-35.
Over the next 9:42, Providence grabbed seven offensive rebounds and went on a 21-9 run. Obekpa, the Big East’s leader in blocks and the team’s third-leading rebounder, was never inserted into the game again.
Obekpa played a season-low two minutes, recording zero points, zero rebounds and zero blocks, while God’sgift Achiuwa played 10 minutes, including a stretch late in the second half.
“Ninety-nine percent of it was foul trouble,” coach Steve Lavin said. “Third foul to start the second half puts him on the bench. Then we’re down 17 and now we’re in a position where against a zone offense, we’re trying to put combinations out there that will help us to both makes shots and then also we were in a scramble, trapping mode. So we went small to come back in this game.”
Small wouldn’t haven’t been necessary if the frontline played big.