Although it was a loss, one could make a valid case for today serving as the most inspiring game of St. John's basketball that has been played all season. Three days removed from a wire-to-wire win over West Virginia, the Red Storm (9-12) gave a valiant effort in an 83-76 loss to sixth-ranked Duke (18-3) at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday afternoon. It was a game of runs, as Duke turned a slim three-point lead into a 20-point advantage with a 20-3 spurt in the first half, but also one in which a talented freshman made himself a household name to all those who still doubted his abilities. After his 23-point, 13-rebound outing against West Virginia Wednesday night, Moe Harkless matched his rebound total from the previous game and … [Read more...]

Returning to Madison Square Garden for the first time since coughing up a 10-point lead to Villanova, St. John's did more than just exorcise their demons. Tonight, they buried them. Four Red Storm players scored in double figures as St. John's (9-11, 3-6) snapped a four-game losing streak with a commanding 78-62 victory over West Virginia (15-6, 5-3) in a matchup that the Johnnies led by as many as 21. The Mountaineers did get 26 points and 14 rebounds from potential conference player of the year Kevin Jones in the losing effort. "This is the first time we really closed out a game when the other team had a spurt," said Moe Harkless, who led St. John's with 23 points. Assistant coach Mike Dunlap, who is filling in for a recovering … [Read more...]

Road game against a team that finished ahead of just one other school in the Big East last year. On the surface, that sounds like a recipe for success. However, there is more to St. John's than meets the eye, and not all of it is pleasant. After allowing a 50 percent effort from the field in the opening half, the Red Storm (8-10, 2-4) were never able to seize control of what turned out to be a 64-49 loss to the University of South Florida, (11-8, 4-2) who got a game-high 24 points from Victor Rudd. St. John's held serve with USF early; but a 10-2 run to start the second half, capped off by a Rudd three-pointer, was all the offense the Bulls would need on a night where they led the Red Storm by as many as 21 points. St. John's faces … [Read more...]

What started as a promising afternoon ended with the same result as the previous game. After carrying the team throughout the day, freshman forward Moe Harkless fouled out with just over five minutes remaining in a call that proved to be St. John's undoing as the Red Storm (8-9, 2-4) were outscored 16-4 over the final segment of a 69-49 loss to No. 11 Georgetown (14-3, 4-2) at Madison Square Garden. Harkless had been the team's lone bright spot during a game in which the Red Storm looked for their fourth consecutive home victory against their archrivals. Instead, today's crushing loss drops St. John's below .500 for the first time in over a month; as the Hoyas picked up their first victory in New York since the 2010 Big East … [Read more...]

Twenty minutes into the game, St. John's had a one-point lead on the 24th-ranked team in the country. What followed was a second half that the Red Storm would like to forget. Playing with just six men for the final 11:22 of the second half, after D'Angelo Harrison fouled out, St. John's short bench was no match for Marquette's transition game, which Golden Eagles (13-4, 2-2) exploited for 52 second-half points, on the way to an 83-64 victory at the Bradley Center. Davante Gardner led the way for Marquette, posting a career-high 22 points and 15 rebounds to complement a 20-point, six assist outing from guard Darius Johnson-Odom. St. John's picked up a team-high 20 from God'sgift Achiuwa in the losing effort on one of the better … [Read more...]

On the coldest night of the winter, the air conditioner inside Madison Square Garden was on full blast during the pregame shootaround. St. John's forgot to shut theirs off. Following a first half in which the Red Storm (7-7, 1-2) shot just 14 percent from the field; making just five of their 35 shots, their final rally came just a few minutes too late in a 73-58 loss at the hands of tenth-ranked Louisville, (13-2, 1-1) who beat St. John's at their own game with a stifling press defense. St. John's was led by D'Angelo Harrison, whose 24 points led all scorers and gave the freshman his fourth 20-point game of the season; while the Cardinals picked up 17 points from sophomore guard Russ Smith en route to the victory. St. John's will … [Read more...]

A year that started out so magically for St. John's ended with a result most fans would like to forget. Four days removed from perhaps their best game of the season, St. John's (7-6, 1-1) brought down the curtain on 2011 with an 83-69 loss to ninth-ranked Connecticut. (12-1, 2-0) Despite coming up short in the end, the Red Storm got 17 points from guard D'Angelo Harrison and a career-high 14-point effort from Sir'Dominic Pointer in a performance that showcased the fighting spirit of the youngest team in St. John's 104-year program history. "We feel like we've been better since the Kentucky game," remarked assistant coach Mike Dunlap after the game. "As we go down this trail, the confidence for us is going to be … [Read more...]