St. John’s Unfortunate End in NCAA Tournament

WASHINGTON — In a tense moment, “power” let St. John’s down.

With just a three-point edge in the final ticks, Rick Pitino called a play that would eventually lead to Dylan Darling’s last-second shot against Kansas. Unfortunately, Darling’s potential game-tying three-pointer with 1.8 seconds remaining barely missed the rim, marking a heartbreaking conclusion for the fifth-seeded Johnnies as they wrapped up an impressive season on Friday night.

“We set screens, we tried everything to create openings,” Pitino reflected after the gut-wrenching 80-75 defeat to the top-seeded Duke at Capital One Arena. “They might have left Zuby [Ejiofor] open. Without that, we might have had to push toward the lane instead of the corner. It wasn’t quite the shot we wanted, but it’s alright.”

“He had a slight opening and showed the guts to take it,” he added.

Dylan Darling hit a couple of threes during the game and was the standout guard for St. John’s, but he couldn’t step into the hero role again, having already contributed to Kansas University’s downfall.

“Coach went back to the ‘power’ play,” Darling said. “With a 3-point lead, there was a bit of confusion about the shot we intended to take. That was the shot we ended up going with. In that moment, I figured, if we were going for a three, that wasn’t a bad look.”

Dahlin had a clutch performance throughout the season, earning the nickname “Church Belles” from Pitino and playing a crucial role in leading the Red Storm to its first Sweet 16 appearance since 1999.

Ruben Prey notched a career-high with four three-pointers, contributing to St. John’s closing season, where they hit double-digit threes for three consecutive games. Prior to the NCAA Tournament, the Red Storm had only pulled off that feat once before in consecutive outings. However, in this crucial game, they were outscored by 12 points in the paint and 13 in rebounds, also making 16 fewer free throws than Duke.