After a first round victory over St. Joseph’s, the St. John’s Red Storm looked to extend their NIT run as they played the Virginia Cavaliers.

Scoring was few and far between in the better part of the first half, with Chris Obekpa being the offensive spark for St. John’s early on. His jumper was the lone bucket in the games first 3 minutes.

The first 8 minutes saw Virginia manage just six shots, while hitting only one. If not for a 4-12 shooting performance for the Storm, things would not be as close as the 8-4 score dictated.

Teven Jones would get the Cavaliers back with one shot, draining a three pointer to cut the St. John’s lead to one. After another one of their 5 early turnovers, the Storm relinquished their lead, with Virginia taking a 9-8 advantage.

Virginia would continue building on their lead with a 9-0 run to give them a 13-8 lead. It would finally come to an end after a JaKarr Sampson banker with 9 to go in the half.

Two straight three pointers for Taylor Barnette would add to the St. John’s deficit. In an unlikely turn of events however it would be an Amir Garret shot from downtown to get the Storm back in it. Garret would add a tip-in on the next possession to make it 24-16 with 4 to play.

St. John’s would struggle to get things any closer, and they went into halftime trailing 32-21. Sampson who had a team high 6 points, would also go into half in foul trouble with 3.

Much like the start of the game, neither team got on an offensive roll early in the second half, with Phil Greene scoring the only points for St. John’s in the first 4 minutes. The equally anemic Cavaliers only managed six points of their own, giving them a 38-27 advantage.

Virginia continued to struggle, scoring just three field goals in the first 7 minutes. This allowed the Storm to go on an 8-2 run to chip the Cavaliers lead to just 40-33.

Just as St. John’s looked to battle back, Justin Anderson knocked down a three to extend the Virginia lead back to double digits. On the next possession for the Storm, Sampson took his fourth foul as things began getting physical.

Another chance for St. John’s was once again thwarted by Taylor Barnette, who nailed another three as the Storm tried trimming the lead. With 8 to play the Cavaliers led 50-37.

Virginia would continue to pour it on as the clock wound down, and they would eventually win it by a final of 68-50, ending the St. John’s season.

Phil Greene finished the season with a team high 18 points. Sampson scored 14 while also pulling down 7 rebounds.

The final Big East Tournament began for the St. John’s Red Storm as they took on the Villanova Wildcats on the courts of Madison Square Garden.

Sir’Dom Pointer would be available for the Storm after missing the last game due to his suspension.

Chris Obekpa began the game on the offensive side of the ball, getting the first round started with a bucket and a Red Storm lead in the games first 2 minutes.

Nova however would turn right around with an 18-4 run over the next 8 minutes. At one point St. John’s was held off the board for well over 6 minutes, until JaKarr Sampson was able to finally get a shot to fall.

Things would go from bad to worse for the Storm, as Felix Balamou went down with an apparent leg injury after blocking a shot.

While things looked down for St. John’s, Phil Greene decided to take things over. He scored 7 straight Storm points while helping to propel them within five points, trailing 20-15 with 6 to play in the first.

After trading a couple of buckets, Marc-Antoine Bourgault got things even closer as he nailed his first three pointer of the game. The timely bucked enabled St. John’s to cut the deficit to 22-21 with 3 to go.

Things would remain close as the half wound down, and after the games first 20 minutes, the teams were knotted at 24-24. The 7 points for Phil Greene were a team high while Mouphtaou Yarou led Nova with 12 points.

Pointer started the second half strong for the Storm, slamming home a dunk to give them their first lead since early after tipoff. He would nail a jumper a few minutes later, giving St. John’s a 31-28 lead.

The Wildcats would soon change the momentum as freshman Ryan Arcidiacono finally began heating up. His three pointer capped off a 10-2 run to give Nova a 38-33 advantage after 6 minutes in the second.

Neither team found much rhythm as the half continued, with St. John’s scoring just three points in 4 minutes. This enabled the Wildcats to extend their lead to 45-38 in the last 9 minutes of play.

Nova would add a couple of more points to increase their lead to 50-40. That was when Phil Greene went on yet another run, hitting a shot from downtown and then getting a steal that led to a layup. With 7 minutes remaining, St. John’s was down 50-45.

That would be as close as the Storm would get, ending their Big East life with a 66-53 loss.

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With their NCAA tournament hopes all but lost, the St. John’s Red Storm (16-13, 8-9) headed to face the #24 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (23-7, 11-6) in an attempt to salvage their season.

The Storm picked up a victory over the Irish earlier this season at the Garden, a win that propelled them onto a season high five game winning streak.

It took 3 minutes for St. John’s to get on the board, but thanks to anemic shooting on both sides they trailed just 4-2.

The rough shooting saw both teams combine for 4-14 shooting from the field in the first 5 minutes, leaving them tied at 4 points apiece.

After both teams traded buckets for several minutes, St. John’s was able to open things up by going on an 8-0 run. The streak gave the Storm a 16-10 lead with 8 to go, capped off by a rare Felix Balamou bucket.

Jerian Grant would nail a three as Notre Dame battled to retake the lead at 19-18. Phil Greene would take it right back however, delivering a sweet bounce pass to JaKarr Sampson that gave the Storm a lead in the last 2 minutes of the first.

Sir’Dom Pointer would then knock down a shot from deep to extend the Storm lead to 26-19. Eric Atkins would hit his own trey to match, but it was St. John’s leading at halftime, 26-22.

The Red Storm struggled from the field coming out of halftime, going 1-8 in the first 4 minutes. Thanks to blocks from Pointer and Chris Obekpa however, St. John’s was able to retain a 28-26 lead.

Notre Dame would be able to take things over soon after the abundance of blocks, going on an 14-2 run that gave them a 38-30 lead.

During the Irish run Jack Cooley set a hard pick on Greene that sent him flying to the ground. Greene would get up after a few seconds down on the court.

The big hit by Cooley would send him off on a strong offensive run of his own, picking up 4 quick points to extent the Notre Dame lead to 43-34 with 9 minutes left in the game.

The rout was on for the Irish and St. John’s was unable to bounce back. Things would heat up however before the 66-40 score went final.

In the last 2 minutes of play, Pointer began throwing punches at Cameron Biedscheid leading to both players receiving ejections. Amir Garret was also ejected after leaving the bench to join the scuffle.

St. John’s will look to end their regular season on a high note as they host the Marquette Golden Eagles March 9 at Madison Square Garden.

The St. John’s Red Storm (16-11, 8-7) would look to pad their tournament resume as they hosted the #20 Pittsburgh Panthers (21-7, 9-6) at Madison Square Garden.

Jamal Branch returned to the lineup for the Storm after missing several games with an MCL sprain. His return also saw St. John’s wearing alternate gray jerseys for the first time in team history.

Steve Adams of Pitt got the Panthers off to a quick start, scoring 5 early points and giving his team an 8-2 lead. D’Angelo Harrison would do his best to keep things close, draining a three to make it 8-5 in the games first 3 minutes.

Tray Woodall would take things over for Pitt once Adams hit the bench with foul troubles. He scored 8 points in the first 6 minutes to give the Panthers a 13-8 lead over the Storm.

After a steal and a block for Chris Obekpa, Phil Greene was able to score 4 straight points for St. John’s. The mini run for Greene cut the  deficit to 17-14 with 9 to play in the first.

Greene continued his hot shooting as the half went on, draining a shot from downtown with 5 to go to keep the Storm down just three. JaKarr Sampson then cut it to 24-23 after an offensive board and a layup.

Both teams traded buckets as the half wound down, allowing Pitt to retain a 30-27 lead going into halftime. Phil Greene led the Storm with 9 points while Woodall had 10 for Pitt.

St. John’s would take their first lead of the game thanks to a pair of Sampson free throws a minute into the second. Woodall however would take the lead right back after draining another three pointer. After 3 minutes of second half action, Pitt led 35-33.

Obekpa slammed home a dunk for the Storm with 14 minutes of gameplay left to break up a 10-2 Panthers run. A few minutes later Obekpa pitched in offensively again, hitting two free throws to make it a 42-39 game in favor of Pitt.

Following the mini run for Obekpa, the Panthers began to pull away. Sampson did his best to get the crowd engaged again, with a one handed dunk in the last 8 minutes of the game. He was bested however by a J.J. Moore three pointer, to make it 50-41.

Another three pointer from the hands of Tray Woodall would proof to be a dagger into the hopes of a St. John’s victory. The Panthers would finish things off by a final of 63-47.

D’Angelo Harrison was just 1-12 from the field, while the entire team shot 2-14 on three pointers. Tray Woodall led the game with 25 points while Sampson led the Storm with 14.

“If we had converted some of the shots we usually make it would have been a different ballgame.” Harrison said after the game.

St. John’s will look to get back on track as they head up to Rhode Island to face the Providence Friars for a March 2 matchup.