St. John's Rutgers Postgame Links

NEW YORK -- St. John's entered new territory again Wednesday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.

Now, not only do the Red Storm have a bull's-eye on their back, but they also have a cyclone of controversy enveloping them, following their 65-63 win over Rutgers in the second round of the Big East tournament.

In the final 4.9 seconds of a chaotic last minute of play, Rutgers had the ball, trailing by two, having to go the length of the court. An attempted half-court pass to Rutgers forward Gilvydas Biruta was broken up by the defense, and the ball wound up in St. John's forward Justin Brownlee's hands. Game over, right?

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/ncb/columns/story?columnist=darcy_kieran&id=6199500

NEW YORK -- The refs blew it, only the oldest story in sports. Justin Brownlee traveled, stepped out of bounds with 1.7 seconds to play and all but begged for a technical foul by firing the ball into the stands before the final horn was blown.

Brownlee did everything but kidnap the Lindbergh baby on the final possession of St. John's 65, Rutgers 63, and yet a zebra-striped jury of three -- Jim Burr, Tim Higgins and Earl Walton -- let him get away with it, sending the Red Storm into a Big East tournament quarterfinal duel with Syracuse and sending the spirited kids from Rutgers home.

"It's got to be a mistake," Rutgers coach Mike Rice said. "I watched it on YouTube."

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/ncb/columns/story?columnist=oconnor_ian&id=6199588

The only senior moment came from the referees.

St. John’s upperclassman Justin Brownlee made a mistake not even a freshman should make, and the Red Storm should consider themselves lucky it didn’t knock them out of the Big East tournament.

In the final seconds, with St. John‘s leading Rutgers 65-63, Brownlee picked up a turnover and celebrated by running toward the sideline and throwing the ball into the crowd. The only problem was, Brownlee traveled on his way out of bounds with time still left on the clock.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/st_john_survies_with_help_from_officials_95yytv2DwSYT3zoAsa8tsL#ixzz1GBCRbBZN

NEW YORK -- St. John's star Dwight Hardy missed 12 of 17 shots against Rutgers and nearly knocked his team out of the Big East tournament by dropping a ball out of bounds in the closing seconds, but his long day at the office did not temper his long-term optimism.

"I think we have a great shot of making it to the Final Four," Hardy told ESPNNewYork.com after scoring 17 points in the Red Storm's controversial 65-63 victory over Rutgers, a game marred by officiating errors on the final possession.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/news/story?id=6199283

The failure of Jim Burr, Tim Higgins and Earl Walton to officiate until the final buzzer of the St. John's-Rutgers Big East second-round game Wednesday at Madison Square Garden was "unacceptable," the head of the NCAA's officiating told ESPN.com.

John Adams, the national coordinator of men's basketball officiating, is in charge of selecting and managing the 98 officials for the NCAA tournament. He said whether Burr, Higgins and Walton advance to work the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament "is not my business."

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=6198753

The NCAA's head of officiating called the ending "unacceptable."

St. John's will take it.

The 17th-ranked Red Storm emerged from a turbulent final few seconds against Rutgers with a 65-63 Big East Tournament second-round victory before 19,375 at the Garden Wednesday as officials missed a pair of critical calls at the game's conclusion.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2011/03/09/2011-03-09_st_johns_survives_late_scare_from_rutgers_will_face_syracuse_in_big_east_tournam.html