Playing in the Big East tournament for the first time didn’t faze the all-freshman lineup for St. John’s. The Red Storm just ran into a buzzsaw.

After leading briefly during the opening half; the experience lacking in the 12th-seeded Red Storm (13-19) proved crucial, as Pittsburgh (17-15) ran away to a 73-59 victory in the first round of the Big East tournament. With the win, the Panthers advance to tomorrow’s second round; where they will meet Georgetown, while the long season endured by the Red Storm comes to a halt on their home court of Madison Square Garden.

“We had a lot of easy baskets that didn’t go in,” said assistant coach Mike Dunlap, who has filled in admirably for a recovering Steve Lavin. “The story was, we had plenty of good looks. We just couldn’t finish.”

While Pittsburgh plays on, St. John’s recovers from a trying season that we will review in our final batch of lasting impressions.

Lasting Impressions
– Given the hands they were dealt throughout the season; from Steve Lavin’s health to the multiple decommitments and departures, the Red Storm did more than just survive this season. Give St. John’s a lot of credit for not only staying the course, but competing harder than ever down the stretch even though the results never panned out in their favor.

– Two positive aspects come from this loss. First, God’sgift Achiuwa had arguably his strongest outing at the Garden, grabbing a career-high twelve rebounds. Second, single season rookie scoring leader D’Angelo Harrison posted his first career double-double with twelve points and ten rebounds.

– Legendary head coach Al McGuire once said that the best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores. Given the talent on this team and their exposure to the beast that is the Big East, nothing but great things can be expected for a bright future in New York City.

– Finally, instead of awarding a game ball, we will instead award a season MVP honor that will be shared among two deserving candidates. D’Angelo Harrison was at times St. John’s most consistent scorer, but we would be remiss if we did not mention newly crowned conference Rookie of the Year Moe Harkless. The forward from Queens capped off his dominant freshman campaign with a 25-point performance that solidified his standing as either a potential pro prospect should he go down that road, or the next big star to come from the Big East. All in all; while it could have been better for the Red Storm, it could very well have been worse, and these players should be congratulated and applauded for a job well done after their unfortunate circumstances.

Twelve months later, the Scarlet Knights got their revenge.

Playing for the first time since the controversial finish in their Big East tournament matchup last season at Madison Square Garden; Rutgers (14-17, 6-12) got a tip-in emphatically slammed home by Dane Miller with 9.3 seconds left, (10 points, 10 rebounds) and drained two free throws on their ensuing possession to escape with a 61-58 victory over St. John’s (13-18, 6-12) in the regular season finale for both teams.

The Red Storm had two chances to win after Rutgers took the lead; but D’Angelo Harrison (17 points) missed a three-pointer with two seconds left that would have given St. John’s the lead, and narrowly missed a half-court heave that rimmed out as the buzzer sounded. With the win, Rutgers secured the No. 11 seed and a Tuesday night meeting with Villanova in the Big East tournament. St. John’s falls into the No. 12 hole with the loss; and will face Pittsburgh for the second time in seven days on Tuesday afternoon at 2pm, the fourth consecutive year that the Red Storm are playing in that time slot.

As St. John’s recovers and prepares for a rematch with Jamie Dixon and the Panthers, we leave you with lasting impressions from a rock fight in New Jersey.

Lasting Impressions
– Although the two teams each managed 42 rebounds, Rutgers attacked the lane more than St. John’s. “They absolutely beat us from pillar to post off the glass,” said assistant coach Mike Dunlap.

– Much to the credit of their all-freshman lineup, St. John’s played most of the second half with seemingly the whole team in foul trouble. In fact, Amir Garrett was the only Red Storm player who did not accumulate at least three personal fouls. “We were able to keep our guys in the game,” said Dunlap. “They were hanging on four (fouls) forever and a day.”

– Amir Garrett picked up nine rebounds last night, and the disparity between offense and defense was very impressive. Six of Garrett’s nine rebounds came on the offensive glass; and all of those half-dozen boards were picked up in a first half that could be best described as the basketball version of Friday evening traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike, with whistles stopping play nearly every other minute.

– Finally, Dane Miller picks up game ball honors. Not only did Miller provide Rutgers with the game-winning basket, but he also fought his way to a double-double to provide a positive end to what has been a junior campaign filled with maddening inconsistencies for a player once considered among the Big East’s rising stars. “It was a beautiful thing of execution,” said Rutgers coach Mike Rice when asked about the winning play after the game. “Something good happened finally. It’s a fitting moment, especially after how he (Miller) has played the last four weeks of the season.”

The most superstitious of fans sensed the worst when the Red Storm took to the court.

Wearing their alternate black uniforms; the same third jerseys that St. John’s has won a grand total of one game in over the program’s 104-year history, St. John’s (13-17, 6-11) was competitive in the first half before being done in over the final stanza in an 89-69 loss to Pittsburgh (16-14, 5-12) at the Petersen Center, where the Panthers are now 6-0 all time against New York City’s college team.

“We really wanted to play well for our seniors tonight,” said Pitt coach Jamie Dixon after four-year players Ashton Gibbs, (19 points to lead the Panthers) Travon Woodall and Nasir Robinson were honored prior to the opening tip. “We felt it was our last time with them playing here, and I’m happy we played so well.”

Despite yet another stellar performance from Gibbs; voted the Big East preseason player of the year, St. John’s rewrote its illustrious history when D’Angelo Harrison broke the single season record for most points scored by a freshman with his 21-point outing last night. Harrison’s latest 20-point game was enough to vault him past former Red Storm point guard Erick Barkley on the milestone list. “It’s a tremendous accomplishment,” said Harrison; “but I’d rather get a win for our team every night. Any guy on our team is capable of getting a record like that.”

The Red Storm conclude the regular season with a trip to New Jersey to face Rutgers in a matchup that will determine St. John’s seeding in the Big East tournament next week, which will be explained along with the game itself in our latest batch of lasting impressions.

Lasting Impressions
– Last night’s loss precluded St. John’s from securing the No. 9 seed in the Big East tournament. With a win Saturday night at Rutgers, the Red Storm will secure the No. 11 spot and a 9pm tipoff on Tuesday night. A loss could potentially drop them as far as the No. 14; which would also be in the 9pm game, but more likely into the 12/13 pairing that is showcased in the same 2pm time slot that St. John’s has drawn in each of the first three seasons under the current tournament format.

– St. John’s kept the game close in the first half, only trailing by five when Pittsburgh took a 38-33 lead into the locker room. From there, the Panthers shot 68 percent (17-for-25) over the final stanza to pull away one basket after another.

– An ankle injury to Moe Harkless in the first half helped Pitt take advantage inside and muscle their way to a 31-17 rebounding edge on the Red Storm. Harkless returned, but the Panthers found their way to the paint when they were not draining NBA-range threes with the several open looks they received.

– Finally; although it came in a losing effort, Phil Greene (18 points, seven assists) is awarded the game ball. Greene played a full 40 minutes and only turned the ball over three times while shooting 8-for-12 from the field against Pittsburgh’s smothering defense. Through numerous stretches in the first half, Greene seemingly could not miss. His mid-range game was even more effective, hitting one rainbow after another from various spots inside the three-point line.

Something had to give, whether it was Notre Dame’s nine-game winning streak or St. John’s two-game roll. It took the full forty minutes to figure out which it would be.

After Amir Garrett (11 points) put St. John’s ahead by three with nine seconds left; Notre Dame had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but a three-point attempt from Alex Dragicevich bounced off the left rim to give the Red Storm (13-16, 6-10) a hard-earned 61-58 victory over the 18th-ranked Fighting Irish. (20-9, 12-4)

“Give a lot of credit to St. John’s,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said after the game. “We had a lot of good looks, but didn’t make enough of them.”

In addition to Garrett, St. John’s was led by Moe Harkless (22 points) and D’Angelo Harrison (15 points) for their third straight victory, which also extended a streak of wins over Notre Dame at Madison Square Garden that dates back to March of 2004, before former coach Norm Roberts was even hired.

St. John’s will now head to Pittsburgh with their slim NIT hopes still intact, and with a few lasting impressions from this afternoon’s matinee.

Lasting Impressions
– Moe Harkless picks up game ball honors, but he did not do it alone. Harkless and God’sgift Achiuwa were instrumental in containing the Notre Dame frontcourt through the opening half, and even in the first minutes of the second stanza.

– Notre Dame was defeated by their inability to hit the three-point shot that usually works well for them. For the game, the Fighting Irish missed 27 of the 31 trifectas they attempted, which allowed St. John’s to get a plus-7 defensive rebounding edge.

– Amir Garrett keeps improving on a nightly basis. Said his teammate Moe Harkless on the Los Angeles native: “When he gets going, it’s fun to watch.”

– Finally, each coach put the other over in their respective postgame press conferences, but no words made more of an impact than those spoken by Mike Brey in regard to the Red Storm. Below are some excerpts from the Notre Dame coach’s beliefs on St. John’s and their all-freshman lineup:

“The great thing about the St. John’s dynamic is that they play five freshmen and they start five freshmen because they only have six guys, and they all play 35 minutes a game. You’re only going to get better.”

“I think Mike Dunlap has done an unbelievable job. I can’t even relate to what he’s doing because I’ve always had seniors to lean on.”

The final contest at Carnesecca Arena this season proved to be a mirror image of the first encounter between the two teams nineteen days before, with one team establishing control midway through the first half before the other battled back and stole the game down the stretch.

Led by 23 points from D’Angelo Harrison and a career-high 18 from fellow freshman Amir Garrett, St. John’s (12-16, 5-10) shook off DePaul’s late rally and sent the Blue Demons (11-16, 2-13) to their seventh straight defeat in a 79-72 decision on the Queens campus.

“It was a quick turnaround in 48 hours,” assistant coach Mike Dunlap stated after the game, the second for the Red Storm in three days after defeating UCLA this past Saturday. “We took care of the ball against a pressing team and were scrappier in the second half.”

After giving up 94 points to Seton Hall last Tuesday, the Red Storm have now won two straight as they look to keep their slim hopes for a first-round bye in the Big East tournament alive, and next up will be a Notre Dame team that has defied expectations in the absence of star forward Tim Abromaitis.

Before the collision with the Fighting Irish, however, we wrap up a Monday night in Queens with a few lasting impressions.

Lasting Impressions
– Amir Garrett picks up game ball honors with an aggressive 18-point outing. When asked about his adaptation into the lineup, the freshman admitted he still was not up to speed with the rest of the team. “I’m still catching up,” said Garrett. “They’re flying down the court and I’m like ‘Hey, wait for me!'”

– The increased trips to the foul line were crucial for both teams, but more so for the young and undermanned Red Storm. “We got chances to rest,” said Mike Dunlap on the blown whistles. “Every time they fouled, it was like a timeout.”

– As expected, Brandon Young (17 points) had several opportunities to contribute for DePaul. However, fellow sophomore Cleveland Melvin made more of an impact for the Blue Demons with an 18-point, 15-rebound performance that gets lost in the shuffle considering how effective St. John’s was in closing out the game.

– Finally, there is some optimism around St. John’s. With Notre Dame; who has not beaten the Red Storm in Madison Square Garden in several years, up next, St. John’s can still consider themselves in consideration for an NIT bid. After Notre Dame, next up are a Pittsburgh team that is 4-11 in Big East play and Rutgers, who has been inconsistent through most of the year. However, St. John’s would still need to win their first two Big East tournament games to get over .500 and have a shot at the postseason.