St. Johns fall to a house of Cards
LOUISVILLE, KY - St. John's opened the second half on a 10-0 run to take a one-point lead with 15:32 to play, but No. 12/12 Louisville responded down the stretch to defeat the Red Storm, 72-58, in a game in which both teams shot just 37.1 percent from the field.
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D'Angelo Harrison scored 18 points to become the 48th player in St. John's history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. The sophomore, who reached the milestone in just his 57th game and finished the night with 1,0001 points, tied Daryll Hill as the eighth-fastest player in school history to score 1,000 points.
Phil Greene had a team-high 21 points to pace St. John's (15-10, 7-6), while JaKarr Sampson added eight points and nine rebounds. Chris Obekpa grabbed 12 rebounds to go with three blocked shots and Marco Bourgault scored six points on a 2-of-4 performance from long range. The Red Storm attempted just seven free throws, draining five (71.4 percent), as the Cardinals committed just eight fouls as a team.
Russ Smith went 12-of-14 from the line and scored a game-high 24 points to lead four players in double-figures for Louisville (20-5, 8-4). Peyton Siva had 12 points and six assists, Gorgui Deng had 10 points and 17 rebounds, and Chane Behanan added 10 points. The Cardinals went 23-of-30 (76.7 percent) from the line and posted a +8 margin (45-37) on the boards.
St. John's trailed by nine points at halftime, but wasted no time in making its move. Greene opened the second frame with a layup before a Sampson layup capped a 10-0 run and gave the Red Storm a 33-32 advantage with 15:32 remaining in regulation.
Louisville answered with a run of its own, however, as a pair of Smith 3s paced an 8-0 run that put the Cardinals up seven, 40-33.
A Bourgault 3-pointer cut the deficit to 44-38 with 11:51 left to play, but the Red Storm would get no closer as Louisville used an 8-1 spurt to go up 13 points.
St. John's took a quick 3-0 lead as Harrison swished a 3-pointer just seven seconds into the game. A pair of Smith free throws opened up an eight-point lead for the Cardinals before Harrison drained another 3-pointer and made a jumper to give the Red Storm a 16-15 advantage. Amir Garrett then added a layup-and-one to cap a 16-6 run and give St. John's a 19-16 lead with 7:54 left before halftime.
The Red Storm trailed by one at the 2:21 mark, but Louisville scored the final eight points of the half and took a 32-23 lead into the break.
St. John's returns to Queens to take on USF on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. on SNY in the first of two-straight home games.