St. John’s freshmen Moe Harkless soared to the top of an exclusive club Tuesday.
The 6-foot-8 Harkless poured in a career-high 32 points as St. John’s opened Big East play with a 91-67 victory over Providence at Carnesecca Arena.
It was the most points scored in a Big East freshman debut ever — surpassing the 30 points scored by Notre Dame’s Troy Murphy and Georgetown’s Allen Iverson.
“I don’t even know what to say,” said Harkless, who went 14-of-17 from the field and added 13 rebounds. “It’s an honor to be mentioned with those guys. Being able to break the record is a great feeling.”
Said Providence coach Ed Cooley: “He is terrific, a great player, a very, very good player. He’s definitely a face of the Big East and he will go down as one of St. John’s best players.”
Fellow frosh D’Angelo Harrison added 25 points by going 8-of-12 from the field and 7-of-8 from the line for the Red Storm (7-5, 1-0).
“That’s amazing to me,” Harrison said of Harkless’ output. “Hey, I set a record for myself. Moe did a great job. He was efficient all the way through. He deserves it.”
The Johnnies won their third straight after a three-game losing streak and notched a season-high for points. The previous best was 82 points in a 24-point win over UMBC.
The Red Storm came into the game averaging 66.7 points – 15th in the 16-team Big East – but they had 47 and a 16-point lead at halftime.
Gerard Coleman had 20 points for the Friars (11-3, 0-1), who had won three straight road games and had only been allowing 62.9 points per game.
“Our kids were pathetic today in every way,” Cooley said. “Every wart re-emerged. We were very selfish. We just weren’t tough and when you’re not tough and don’t show that passion to compete, that’s very sad to see. We were coming along but played a team that wanted it more.”
(The AP contributed)
