This had all the elements of a classic Big East battle, a real rock fight at The Rock. Danis Jenkins sank a long 3-pointer with 4:33 left in the first half, and the modest red-clad crowd at Prudential Center erupted in joy.
It was St. John's No. 24, Seton Hall No. 24. Three days after enduring a heartbreaking last-minute failure in Creighton, Johnny and his traveling followers braced themselves for two more hours of anxiety, stress and pain, and for the worst. Wire, sudden suffering…
And it wasn't.
It would be nearly 37 minutes of real time before the Johnnies scored again. There were exactly 8 ¹/₂ minutes of game time before that happened. By then, the Pirates had hoisted a bunch of Jolly Roger flags to suffocate Johnny and the others, turned The Rock into a merry fun house, and rattled away. The number of unanswered points is 28 points.
And they announced the latest in a series of convincing claims that they are the princes of college hoops in the New York metropolitan area for the foreseeable future, perhaps this season. Perhaps St. John's University wants to refute that now. Because the Johnnys didn't come close to doing that Tuesday night.
The final score was 80-65, which only vaguely indicates how thorough a fight this was, but it was closer than it should have been, if only because Seton Hall enjoyed a 20-minute victory lap in the second half. But then human nature takes over. It was a bright night for the Jersey side of this rivalry, but a tough night for the Queens side.
“We didn't perform to our potential,” said Steve Masiello, who received a rude reception in his debut as a replacement for the sick Rick Pitino.
For St. John's, there's a sudden, harsh realization that ascending to the upper precincts of the Big East is one thing, maintaining a place in that rarefied air is another. There is one minute left and 30 seconds left to beat Creighton on their home court and solidify their lead at 5-1. The next time you try to retrieve the license plate of the truck that left you on the side of the road, your back is full of tire tracks.
“I definitely missed my coach tonight,” Masiello said.
No, Pitino wasn't there, he came down with the coronavirus, and yes, his absence leaves a void. For now, this is a program defined by his personality, regardless of how well the players working under him are able to execute his vision.
But he'll also be the first one to tell you, “Johnny and the others should be advanced enough to survive outside of the cocoon.” They should at least do well enough to compete with a fun, energetic Seton Hall team that is clearly strong and not a fluke. It was a huge statement for Shaheen Holloway's staff and a sweet redemption for Dylan Ade-Owusu, one of the many former Johnnys scattered throughout the sport.
But it was also a white flag of disappointment by Pitino's team. They failed to compete. According to the Pitino Code of Basketball Law, this is a felony, not a misdemeanor, no matter who is sitting in the big chair on the sideline.
It's not always easy for Johnny's. Next up is Marquette, Saturday at noon at Madison Square Garden. Marquette was a Hall last year, being drafted ninth at the start of the season and scoring by the end of the season. Next comes Villanova. If the Wildcats are a nagging puzzler, they're also going to be a little salty in their quest for revenge.
Schedule makers did Johnny no favors until the back nine of the season, keeping him away from the league's panaceas DePaul and Georgetown. Still, the Big East as basketball's whack-a-mole isn't breaking news. However, nights like this make me look at myself, step back, and reflect.
It could be an anomaly. That should be unusual. At 24-24, both teams were showing their true colors and it was a perfect foil, evenly matched. Johnny and Pirate are rarely close to each other's class, and even more rarely are they good at the same time. It should be the same this year. They weren't on Tuesday.
If the Johnny's learn from this, grow from this, shrug it off, and bounce back, they may be able to reminisce on moments like this with glee two months from now. After all, on a Saturday afternoon, 4-1, 30 seconds from 5-1, and a universe away from where I am in Newark, I wonder if this was anything other than a brawl, even if it was easily forgotten. No one said it was supposed to be.
