USF Postgame Links

Like the other eight active seniors on St. John's, Paris Horne knows the high point of their careers will come next week when they make their first NCAA Tournament appearance. But asked Friday to look back at the four years and pick a low point, he identified Senior Night of last season.

Outgoing senior Anthony Mason Jr. was celebrated, but the night was ruined when the Red Storm lost to Marquette on an overtime buzzer-beater.

It was Senior Night again Saturday night and Horne and his classmates made sure this spectacular turnaround season would not end on a bad note. He had 11 points and the biggest rebound of the contest in a game-breaking run as St. John's pulled away late for a hard-fought 72-56 Big East win over surprisingly tough South Florida.

Read More:
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2011/03/05/2011-03-05_st_johns_earns_20th_win_against_usf_at_carnesecca_arena_earns_big_east_tournamen.html

AP Story


NEW YORK -- It made sense that St. John's best regular season in more than a decade was capped with a Senior Night unlike any most people had ever seen.


On a night 10 seniors were honored in a pregame ceremony that was long enough to almost have its own media timeout, No. 15 St. John's beat South Florida 72-56 on Saturday, a successful cap to the class' only successful season.

"It was touching for us because the fans stuck with us for four years and the first three were rough for us and them," Malik Boothe said. "For us to have a season like we're having is something we and they deserve."

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=310642599

In the AP story

Kevin Clark, the senior who saw the least playing time of any of his classmates this season, made things exciting in the final seconds as he missed four shots, the last three after his teammates managed to rebound the miss and get it back to him. He missed one last shot at the buzzer.

"Man, he does shoot a lot," Evans said, trying to keep a straight face. "Really, he's a good shooter."    

THE SKINNY: St. John's trailed for most of the first half; the Red Storm took the lead briefly late at 30-29 on a Dwight Hardy trey, but a Shaun Noriega rebuttal gave South Florida a 32-30 lead at intermission. St. John's had a difficult time attacking USF's 2-3 zone -- the Johnnies didn't shoot a single free throw in the first half.

The Johnnies attacked the zone more aggressively in the second half -- they were in the bonus with 13:48 remaining in the game, and were 18-25 from the foul line. The game remained tight through the first 10 minutes -- in fact, South Florida led 47-44 with 9:36 left. But St. John's eventually wore down USF and pulled away, propelled by timely treys by Hardy and Paris Horne.

Read More:
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/colleges/post/_/id/1834/rapid-reaction-st-johns-72-south-florida-56

The blood-red roses were dazzling. The camera flashes reflected off the frames containing the senior's jerseys. The 4,000 Steve Lavin Bobblehead dolls bobbled to strains of the pep band.

The families and friends from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Queens and The Bronx, Tipton, Ga. And Lagos, Nigeria, turned the sellout crowd in Carnesecca Arena into a reveling love fest.

There might never have been a more emotional, more meaningful Senior Night in St. John's basketball history.

The 10 seniors, eight of whom took a chance on a program that had bottomed out and the two who were the final piece of the puzzle, were celebrated last light before St. John's 72-56 victory over South Florida (9-22 overall, 3-15 Big East).

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/storm_take_stock_of_their_senior_FAf5rsklXcsJ3PAQezRE3N#ixzz1FpshJhas

Q: What is "the magic level?"

Keady: It's reaching the best possible potential, like a magic level of making jumpers, when you make like six, seven in a row, that's a magic level . . . reaching a highest level of execution.

Q: How close is this team to a magic level?

Keady: Oh, they're a long ways from it. But it's getting closer. They're making headway.


Lavin: They know whether or not you're playing a brand of hoops that you can be proud of. And also if you're not, they're gonna boo your (butt) off the floor.

Q: And you're OK with that?

Lavin: Yeah, it's great.

Keady: I think that his genius here is the here is the staff he hired. You got Mike Dunlap, I love being around him. 'Cause now I'm like a good guy (laughs). And Rico Hines is great, and Tony Chiles is great, and Derrick Wrobel is really great, and Moe Hicks, I love him.



Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/steve_serby_sunday_with_gene_lavin_bT5eSBx7s25AQy8FOdue1J#ixzz1FptLtBZX

This was the night when it felt that hope had died, that this crazy dream they all had to bring St. John’s basketball back had been shattered. The Red Storm had just been knocked out of the NIT by Memphis, in Memphis, and into a quiet locker room walked Norm Roberts, who had recruited all of them.

“Coach Roberts walks in, and he has a look on his face that we’ve never seen before,” Justin Burrell recalled. “He comes in the locker room and is talking to us and he tells us, ‘Guys, I don’t think I’ll be here next year.’ And as he says it, he starts to cry. I’m looking around at our coaching staff, and everybody has a sad look on their face. And then he’s telling us, unfortunately he [doesn’t] think he’ll be here next year. And we all bust out crying.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/time_to_let_the_madness_begin_Xh92JuvtjJ29vZPTwYGjqL#ixzz1FpwRv9NV