Johnny Jungle

The 6th Man of St. John's Basketball

For the die hard St. John's fan.
The unofficial 6th man. est. '07
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Storm No Match For Irish Blizzard

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Malik Boothe returned from injury off the bench to log 4 points, 3 assists, and 1 turnover in 14 min.
Normally, a 15-point loss is enough for most players and coaches to press the panic button; but for St. John’s, such a decision just means brushing it off in time for the next game.

On a night where eight ranked teams were defeated, the Red Storm (10-4, 3-1 in the Big East) looked to give 14th-ranked Notre Dame (14-2, 3-1) more to worry about than the three feet of snow that blanketed South Bend. However, the Fighting Irish had other ideas; riding a game-high 26 points from Ben Hansbrough and eight three-pointers as a team en route to a 76-61 victory over the Johnnies, improving to 11-0 this season on their home court at the Joyce Center.

The Irish also got near-double-doubles from swingmen Tim Abromaitis (12 points and nine rebounds) and Scott Martin, (12 points, eight rebounds) and took advantage of the St. John’s zone defense to outscore the Johnnies 24-6 from beyond the arc. Justin Brownlee led the Storm with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Dwayne Polee (12 points) was the only other Johnny in double figures.

Two factors contributed to the final outcome. Dwight Hardy, who had scored at least 20 points in each of his last four contests, was held to just eight. In addition, each member of the starting five was done in by early foul trouble as they had two fouls a piece, forcing Malik Boothe and Sean Evans to play the final five minutes of the first half, along with Polee, Paris Horne, and Malik Stith. St. John’s unfortunately saw the gap widen as the Red Storm went into the locker room down by 19.

The Storm came out of the locker room with newfound energy, perhaps sparked by the arrival of former Notre Dame coach and current ESPN analyst Digger Phelps, who was delayed by the weather. St. John’s cut the deficit to 13 points and was on the verge of cutting it to single digits, but had three consecutive empty possessions. (Two turnovers and an offensive foul) Notre Dame survived the short surge of the Storm and built the lead back up despite forward Tyrone Nash fouling out with nearly five minutes remaining in the game.

The Johnnies, who have been methodical and efficient on offense this season, were anything but tonight; committing 15 turnovers while shooting a season-low for a loss. (38 percent from the field) St. John’s was taking ill-advised shots early in the shot clock, but they recognized what they did immediately after the game. “We made a lot of mistakes on offense, a lot of quick shots,” said Justin Brownlee. “We just weren’t ourselves tonight.” Despite the disappointment, head coach Steve Lavin remained realistic as his team returns home to face No. 4 Syracuse on Wednesday night.

“We missed some point-blank shots early, which were deflating plays, and then took some quick, ill-advised shots and made some turnovers. Put that together and that gives Notre Dame a big lead with the way they play at home, controlling the tempo,” said Lavin. “Now, the focus is staying on the path to improvement, watch film, keep putting ‘hammer to rock,’ and prepare for another high-level Big East opponent in Syracuse.”

If there is one positive to take from all of this, it is the fact that St. John’s is continuing to improve at the free throw line; as the Storm made all but two (17-of-19) foul shots. After all, in the words of coach Lavin, the players know the season isn’t a marathon.

St. John’s gets to rest itself on the way back to New York for a few days more before hosting underwater Syracuse Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden in what will be an exciting atmosphere for both the Johnnies and Orange.

“You look back long enough so you can learn and then move forward,” Lavin said. “Stay in the present, stay in the moment and get ready for Syracuse. In this league, you can’t allow one loss to bleed into two or three.”

It’s a Hardy Knock Life

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St. John’s, playing their third game in a span of six days, showed that they could not only take a punch, but also punch harder and stronger. The Red Storm (10-3, 3-0 in the Big East) knocked off the #13 Georgetown Hoyas (12-3, 1-2) by a score of 61-58 for their third straight Garden win over the Hoyas dating back to March 2009. As the Garden shook with excitement; St. John’s saw one of their best and most excited home crowds in years.

The win was the third straight for the Johnnies to open Big East play, adding to the buzz that has surrounded the program since Steve Lavin was introduced as the head coach in late March. It is the biggest win since the new leader returned to the sideline. Referring to the electric atmosphere in Madison Square Garden, an ecstatic Steve Lavin said, “it’s one of the real reasons why I came back.”

The dynamic scorer Dwight Hardy took advantage of his opportunity to play on the ball tonight with starting point guard Malik Boothe out with a hamstring injury. (Icon SMI)

The inconsistent Red Storm team that struggled in December losses to St. Bonaventure and Fordham has  found swagger and poise that eluded them early in the season, as the senior-laden squad adjusted to Steve Lavin and his staff. Reigning Big East player of the Week Dwight Hardy added another 20-point game to his impressive ledger, his fourth straight and sixth in his last seven games. Justin Brownlee contributed another well-rounded performance to the victory, finishing with 15 points to go with his seven rebounds and five assists.

Perhaps none of his contributions were more significant than his knockout blow. Brownlee had a tough offensive rebound of Hardy’s miss and followed with a layup with seven seconds to go in regulation, putting St. John’s ahead 59-58.  The Hoyas had a chance to win in those final seconds, but Brownlee blocked a layup attempt from Austin Freeman (6 points, 2-10 shooting). Georgetown fouled Hardy, whose two free throws (he was a perfect 10-for-10 at the line) provided the final margin.

“Hardy’s kind of been the hot hand,” said Lavin, offering an explanation for Hardy’s offensive consistency. “You try to encourage him, something like Burgess Meredith in the ‘Rocky’ movies.”

When asked about his comfort level this year, compared to last year, when he arrived at St. John’s, Dwight Hardy remarked that “it’s elevated by a major amount.”

As is usually the case in a matchup between the Johnnies and Hoyas, defense was the game’s key factor. St. John’s was exploited early by Georgetown’s willingness and ability to attack their zone defense in the first half. But those windows closed, and the Hoyas were unable to effectively adjust as the game went on. St. John’s kept their hands and eyes up and took advantage of the Hoyas’ struggles. The Johnnies forced 13 turnovers from a normally solid ball-handling Georgetown squad, scoring 17 points off those miscues.

St. John’s won the game at the charity stripe, converting 18 free throws to the Hoyas’ 14, making their first eleven attempts. Hollis Thompson led the Hoyas with 16 in the losing effort, playing through foul trouble in the second half. The Hoya backcourt trio of Freeman, Chris Wright and Jason Clark was shut down by the hostile and active Red Storm defense.  Averaging 46 points per game this season, the threesome was held to a total of 20 points. Wright and Clark tallied seven each; Big East preseason player of the year Freeman only managed 6.

St. John’s hits the road once again after their successful homecoming, heading into the Joyce Center in South Bend to take on 15th-ranked Notre Dame as they look to win their fourth straight Big East contest and sixth overall. The Johnnies defeated the Fighting Irish on the road last year on two last-second free throws from D.J. Kennedy, walking out of Indiana with a 69-68 victory. St. John’s has won both of its road games in the Big East and is brimming with confidence… now they try for road win number three.

Pop The Champagne

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Road game in a place they haven’t won at in over a decade. It was the same scenario to close out 2010, and St. John’s provided the same result to open 2011.

Dwight Hardy led St. John's in scoring yesterday with 21 points scoring in a variety of ways for the Red Storm. (Icon SMI)

Three days removed from a dominating win at West Virginia, the Johnnies (9-3, 2-0 in the Big East) fought off a scrappy Providence team on the way to a 67-65 victory over the Friars. (11-4, 0-2) Dwight Hardy continued his hot streak, scoring a game-high 21 points and adding six rebounds while playing all forty minutes. Justin Brownlee gave the Red Storm another solid performance; (14 points and nine rebounds) but the biggest points of the game came from Paris Horne, whose trifecta in the final minute broke a 62-all tie and gave St. John’s the lead for good. D.J. Kennedy contributed two free throws before Providence hit a three that proved inconsequential after the buzzer sounded.

The Red Storm started the game strong as Justin Burrell scored all of the Johnnies’ first eight points. Burrell finished with 16 overall as the game became a seesaw battle featuring one run after another as St. John’s took a 28-24 halftime lead into the locker room. Over the final twenty minutes, the Johnnies shot 56 percent (15-for-27) and 4-of-8 from long range to preserve the lead despite committing 16 turnovers. Although the Storm only attempted six foul shots, they were successful on all but one. Marshon Brooks continued his one-man show with 20 points to pace the Friars while point guard Vincent Council scored 14 to complement his six assists.

St. John’s returns home on Monday for a matchup with Georgetown at Madison Square Garden that will be televised nationally on ESPN2 at 7pm. The Hoyas are currently ranked ninth in the country, but that number will likely be lower after their loss at Notre Dame Wednesday night.

Crowned Country Kings

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Steve Lavin has repeatedly looked at this season as one where St. John’s was going to “take the baton” from predecessor Norm Roberts and continue the climb toward the top of the Big East.  Tonight marked Lavin’s opener as coach in what many feel to be the strongest conference in college basketball; and on the road against a school nicknamed the Mountaineers, the climb looked steeper and a lot more difficult considering the Johnnies had not beaten the men from Morgantown in eight years.

Well, records are made to be broken; and demons are meant to be exorcised.

The Red Storm (8-3) picked up where they left off after their Holiday Festival win and were able to play a complete 40 minutes on their way to a statement win over West Virginia (8-3) by the final of 81-71.  Lavin only played eight men as he is now starting to get a better feel for his rotations, with Dwight Hardy, who scored 20 points; (12 from the free throw line) leading the Johnnies while D.J. Kennedy was one of three other St. John’s players in double figures, scoring 17 points and padding his stat line with 11 rebounds in a performance that conjured up memories of “The Hitman” of old.  “We definitely feel like it’s all coming together at one time,” said Kennedy of the win, the third straight for the Red Storm; one that snapped a 10-game losing streak against Bob Huggins’ West Virginia squad, one that went to the Final Four just eight months ago.

After taking a 34-28 lead out of the locker room at halftime, St. John’s continued their solid start and defensive prowess.  Despite only forcing ten Mountaineer turnovers, the Red Storm outrebounded West Virginia 33-24 and managed eight steals.  Defense alone didn’t win the battle for Lavin, who picked up the win in his Big East debut; as St. John’s shot 61 percent from the field.  Not only that, but in what has to be the most impressive and outstanding stat line in the box score; the Red Storm were the grand marshals of a free throw parade, going to the foul line 39 times and converting on 30 of those attempts.  (77 percent) Hardy (12-for-12) and Kennedy (11-for-12) were the principal contributors to the charity stripe efficiency.

West Virginia did get valiant results from their two New York area products, as Mount Vernon’s Kevin Jones led the team with 17 points; while Brooklyn guard Darryl “Truck” Bryant added 14.  The Mountaineers did lead briefly on multiple occasions, and took advantage of the Johnnies’ zone defense with several open looks from the perimeter, shooting 36 percent (13-for-36) from beyond the arc.

St. John’s concludes 2010 on a winning note with this victory, and heads to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center for a New Year’s Day showdown with Keno Davis’ Providence Friars to ring in 2011 before their Monday night Madison Square Garden showdown with a Georgetown team that lost to Notre Dame tonight.

Happy Festivus

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Justin Brownlee showed off a little coast to coast last night against Northwestern. (Icon SMI)

Christmas may still be three days away, but for St. John’s fans, a trophy was placed under the tree last night thanks to what was arguably the best and most complete forty minutes played by the Red Storm this season.

Despite trailing by three at halftime, the Johnnies (7-3) used a near-perfect second half and a resurgence from two of their bench players to put up 48 points over the final stanza, defeating Northwestern 85-69 to bring the Holiday Festival championship back to the corner of Union and Utopia for the first time since 2005. St. John’s shot 80 percent (16-for-20) from the field in the final period, and ended the night with a 76 percent clip (16-for-21) at the free throw line that was a welcome sight for players, coaches and fans alike; along with the 60 percent effort from the field overall. (31-for-52)

“I feel like we’re ready for the Big East,” said Justin Brownlee, who scored 21 points and was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Brownlee hit the shot that virtually iced the championship for the Red Storm, a 3-pointer that put his team up 73-62 with 3:48 remaining in regulation. Said Brownlee of the shot: “I felt like that was a dagger for them.”

Only four other players joined Brownlee in the scoring party, with Dwight Hardy’s 24 leading the way for St. John’s. However, one of the most impressive totals came from freshman Dwayne Polee, who added 10 points in just 17 minutes. “I took my lumps earlier in the season. Now, I’m just trying to get adjusted,” remarked the rookie on his resurgence.  The biggest renaissance came from Justin Burrell, who turned the clock back to his dominating freshman form with 17 points and 9 rebounds on a perfect night (6-for-6) from the field. “Our staff is pleased for Justin,” head coach Steve Lavin said in his postgame press conference. “It’s a breakthrough for his ability to influence the game on both sides of the ball.”

Northwestern (8-1) suffered their first loss of the season just 24 hours after a 92-61 rout of St. Francis in the semifinals. The Wildcats picked up 28 points from forward John Shurna, who was named to the all-tournament team along with teammate Drew Crawford, who managed to score 17 in the losing effort.

Dwight Hardy also received all-tournament honors for St. John’s, who will get to enjoy the holidays with some new hardware to admire before making the trek to Morgantown to commence their Big East slate one week from tonight against West Virginia.