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Big East Basketball: St. John’s continues hot streak at home with win over Hoyas

By Carmine Carcieri

Feb 25, 2017; New York, NY, USA; St. John's Red Storm guard Shamorie Ponds (2) drives around Georgetown Hoyas defense during the second half at Madison Square Garden. St. John's Red Storm won 86-80. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 25, 2017; New York, NY, USA; St. John's Red Storm guard Shamorie Ponds (2) drives around Georgetown Hoyas defense during the second half at Madison Square Garden. St. John's Red Storm won 86-80. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /
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St. John’s has won three straight Big East basketball games at Madison Square Garden after their victory over Georgetown.

In a battle between two teams who are fighting to earn a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament, the St. John’s Red Storm earned their third straight win at Madison Square Garden, beating the Georgetown Hoyas, 86-80, on Saturday afternoon.

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Shamorie Ponds led the Johnnies with 24 points on a highly efficient 10-of-15 shooting while Bashir Ahmed played excellent defense on Georgetown’s final possession of the game and finished with 16 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Federico Mussini chipped in 16 points off the bench and the Johnnies were able to overcome an off night from the team’s second leading scorer, Marcus LoVett (11 points on 3-of-8 shooting).

Both teams played very little defense at times but St. John’s forced 22 Georgetown turnovers, shot 54 percent from the beyond arc and only turned the ball over nine times themselves.

The first half provided us with a very unique 20 minutes of basketball as both squads had their own 17-0 run. At one point the Hoyas had as many turnovers as points (13) and were trailing the Johnnies 14 with 8:12 remaining until halftime.

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But Rodney Pryor (who scored a Georgetown-high 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting) caught fire from beyond the arc and the Red Storm had their own spurt of turnovers.

St. John’s was able to take a punch and respond, though. They didn’t settle for threes (they shot just 13 on the day), instead, attacking the rim, getting to the free throw line and forcing Georgetown’s players into foul trouble.

Ponds, in particular, was stellar down the stretch of the game as he scored numerous key buckets to cap off the Johnnies’ victory. The Red Storm also played possibly their best defensive possession of the game up three with 12 seconds remaining. Ahmed blocked Marcus Derrickson’s three-point attempt before recovering to force the stretch big man into a pass to L.J. Peak, who then missed a contested trey to tie the game.

St. John’s now has a very surprising 7-9 record in the Big East. Given the fact that the Johnnies won just one game in league play last year and eight games overall, this is a huge step in the right direction in Chris Mullin’s second year. And they aren’t just beating bottom feeders. The first two games of this three-game home winning streak consisted of dominating performances against Marquette and Seton Hall, two potential tournament teams. They also beat Butler, who swept Villanova, at Carnesecca Arena in their first game of conference play.

The Red Storm obviously aren’t going to be playing meaningful games in March, but they could be a formidable threat in the Big East Tournament. That is especially the case given that the tournament is on their home floor.

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Meanwhile, Georgetown’s season is over. They have lost back-to-back games against DePaul and St. John’s and are sitting under .500 for the year. The Hoyas are in second to last place in the Big East standings and will be playing on the first night of the Big East Tournament.