The St. John’s Red Storm (0-0, 5-2) got off to a good start to the season picking off the teams they should before heading into the regular season tournaments. St. John’s had knocked off New Mexico at MSG 85-71, the game against his son led to a rather interesting chant during the game. With SJU fans chanting “Who’s your Daddy” to the New Mexico coach Richard Pitino.
The team then headed to the Bahamas where they fell to #12 Baylor 99-98 in double overtime before defeating Virginia 80-55. The team then fell to the University of Georgia 66-63 in a bad defeat, UGA had entered the game winless against top 25 teams in the schools history till they took down then #22 St. Johns.
St. John’s hopes to continue their winning ways against Harvard who they’re 3-0 against, Harvard is entering with a record of (0-0, 2-5) on the season having only defeated Marist and Colgate. The Crimson are off to a bad start this season ahead of their Ivy League schedule. This game should be one where the Johnnies win big and get back on track before facing off with Kansas State on December 7th at 11:30 am on Fox.
The Johnnies took care of business early with a 9-0 run to open the game, Harvard finally got on the board nearly four minutes into the game to make it 9-2 before the first television time out of the game. The basket before the timeout led to a 6-0 run for the Crimson before St. Johns got back on the board, 11-6 with 14:15 remaining in the half.
Half way through the first half of play, coach Pitino can’t be happy with his team’s performance. After a quick 9-0 start the team went Arctic circle cold on offense being outscored 6-5. Anyone outside of Harvard and the Johnnies would be in major trouble with a cold spell like that. The score is 14-6 between the two sides which is considerably lower than expected.
The Red Storm bounce out of their rut and go on a 9-2 run before Harvard calls a time out with 7:44 left in the half, Johnnies lead the Crimson 24-8. The Crimson bounced back with a 5 -0 run after the timeout to move the scoreline to 24-13 before St. John’s called time-out themselves to talk things over with 6:20 remaining. St. Johns would get a basket before letting Harvard go on another 5-0 run to close the gap 26-17 with 4:50 left. It’s been a game of streaks for both sides as neither team is truly dominating the game despite the score line. Lots of bad shots and turnovers have plagued the opening half for the two.
After the media time out the two sides get their own runs in with Harvard going on a 5-0 run, which the Johnnies respond with a 4-0 run before an injury time-out with 37 seconds left to the half 37-26 in favor of SJU. The last sequence of the half saw Harvard score then a St. John’s turnover, followed by a Harvard turnover, and ended with a 3-point buzzer beater for St John’s Jaiden Glover to give the Johnnies a 40-28 lead at halftime.
Pitino, while his side has the lead, can’t be happy with the overall play of his team who went long stretches without baskets, making unforced turnovers and failing to put away a team that should by all means not be allowed to hang with the Big East giants.
Stat Leaders Halftime
Harvard: Chandler Pigge (8-points), They Barbour and Evan Nelson (6-points) Thomas Batties II (5-Rebounds)| 34.4% FG, 16.7% 3-pt, 100% FT
St. Johns: RJ Luis Jr and Jaiden Glover (11-points), Simon Wilcher (8-points)/ RJ Luis Jr and Kadary Richmond (5-Rebounds) | 46.9% FG, 35.7% 3-pt, 83.3% FT
The two teams come out cold, sharing misses to start the half, then the Johnnies get a layup plus one to break the streak. However, the Johnnies miss the free throw but extend the lead to 42-28 before continuing their run 6-0 and a Harvard time-out (46-28) with 17:56 left to the second half of play. Pitino will stress the importance of continuing the run, while Harvard hopes to see a run of its own and given how this game has gone that seems to follow the trend.
Since the time-out both teams have gone ice cold shooting and unable to build momentum at the start of the half. After both teams traded airball’s from deep Harvard makes 1 of 2 free-throws but gets the d rebound in for 3 points on the possession. St. John’s gets their first point since the timeout as well before a media time out. The score is 48-32 for St Johns with Harvard at the line for two after the television time out.
The struggles continue between the teams, and Pitino isn’t happy with his side as he calls time-out after a 3-point shot by Louis Lesmond brings Harvard within ten points (52-42) of the Johnnies with 11:20 left to the second half. There is a good size attendance at the game for the home side, not exactly a loud bunch but they’re slowly getting into it during the breaks.
The Red Storm would get a 4-0 run before Harvard would respond with a big 3 pointer by Evan Nelson, followed up with a good defensive stand but they would miss the free throws and SJU made them pay on the other end with the score now 58-46 with under 9 minutes to play.
With just eight minutes to go the game is within 8 points as Harvard fights back into the game 58-50. After 3 chances thanks to offensive rebounds St Johns expanded the lead to 63-50, thanks to a RJ Luis Jr 3 pointer with just under six to play in the half. Harvard responded with its own 3 pointer by Louis Lesmond and a poor shot by the Johnnies sees Harvard inch closer 63-55 and a time out is called on the floor with 5:39 left in the half.
With just 3:32 left to the game both teams are struggling to push the game in their favor. St John’s has a ten point lead thanks to big misses by the Crimson shooters who’ve found themselves open but unable to convert. The score is 67-57 as the game is paused for a media time out, one of these teams will need a run and that run could decide this game that’s been sloppy on both ends of the floor this evening in Queens, NY.
St Johns is the team that gets the run and makes it a 73-60 game with 1:58 left to play. Harvard misses 1 of 2 free throws, score stands at 73-61 with 1:43 left and the Johnnies call a full timeout to talk things over. While fans trade V-bucks for t-shirts in the stands of section 6 above the basket for St John’s this half.
The game moves to a free throw competition with the Red Storm leading 77-64 and just 40 seconds left to play. The Johnnies will defeat the Crimson of Harvard but have a feeling Pitino won’t be happy with how they obtained the result tonight. St Johns will improve to (0-0, 6-2) on the year and have Kansas State up next on Saturday December 7th 11:30 am tip-off on Fox. Meanwhile Harvard falls to (0-0, 2-6) on the season and will play Holy Cross on December 4th at Holy Cross on ESPN+ at 6:00 pm.
Shortly after the press conference ended and most of the media had gone home word came out that legendary head coach Lou Carnesecca sadly passed away at the age of 99 years old. He was looking forward to his 100th birthday which would’ve been January 5th, 2025. Lou was more than a basketball coach at St John’s he was a father figure to some of the school’s athletes. He was an ambassador for all sports at the collegiate level and beyond. You would find him in the stands cheering on every sport the school had including football and soccer. He was waiting for the buses to return home from the St John’s Men’s Soccer NCAA championship, the schools first ever title in any sport.
Keep an eye out for a more in-depth piece on the legendary New York coach.
Post Game Final Stats
Harvard: Chandler Pigge (15-points) and Thomas Batties II ( 9 – rebounds)
36.1% FG, 27.6% 3pt, 75% Free Throw
St. John’s: RJ Luis Jr (24-points, 10 – Rebounds)
44.3% FG, 22.2% 3pt, 69.2 FT
St John’s Press Conference
Coach Pitino spoke about the status of the team in his eyes, how he feels Brady Dunlap despite only having 2 points was the M.V.P. tonight for his side. He spoke highly of the young players speed and tenacity that while not seen on the score sheet, most definitely helped his team achieve success on the night. High praise of the sophomore forward who is trying to find his identity on this team and showcase his skills.
Coach would wrap up his presser with a heartfelt statement about how rough today was on him personally. He lost two dear friends, one being Fr. Ed Bradley who would sit on the bench with Pitino every game he coached for Louisville. He spoke how he would have the priest over to his house before game days because of the distance for the priest being hard to make the games otherwise. He shared stories of them staying up all night talking and sharing a few good drinks of wine and Dewars, he would give the priest a little extra in hopes of more sleep. While the effort was of no use as they would stay up for hours and by the time Pitino realized it Fr. Bradley was giving his sermon of two or three hours of sleep while Pitino wondered how he was going to coach the game that day.
He admitted the team didn’t play its best and the ceiling is still very high for the squad. He said they can reach the levels of Kentucky, a team he holds in high regard but there is still work to be done.
JJ Pavlick Bad Dawg Sports