Roadley, Providence – There are no asterisks in March. There is no apology. The key is to get the name of the school on the next line at the next level of the bracket. You do it, you don't need to explain. There's no need to justify it. Reach the next line.
St. John's reached the next line late Thursday night inside the Amica Mutual Pavilion. They did a lot early. Maybe a mixture of small nerves, maybe a small stage of fear. They recovered. They were led by half five. By the time my first TV timeout arrived I was 17 years old. 83-53 has ended. It wasn't always a great basketball. That was the case in the end. On the next line.
It happens at St. John's from time to time. I saw a lot. They're like a veteran jazz band that takes time to spend, but when they're ready to riff… well, the Omaha Mavericks saw what happened when they were ready to riff early in the second half. Suddenly, there are lanes that were thought to be very accessible. Suddenly there is no place to hand the ball over.
Suddenly, RJ Luis Jr. (22 points) is beginning to find the range, and Zuby Ejiofor is beginning to penetrate underneath. Suddenly, the drummer of this elite jazz band, Kadary Richmond (10 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists), finds his rhythm and starts cooking.
