St. John’s had high hopes of making the NCAA Tournament entering the season after being picked sixth in the Big East.
Now those dreams appear all but dashed as the Johnnies fell to 10-10, 0-8 in the Big East with a brutal 93-89 double-OT loss at Georgetown on Saturday afternoon.
Leading by five with 24 seconds remaining in the first overtime period, the Johnnies saw Georgetown erase the deficit with a 6-1 spurt before the Hoyas (13-6, 3-5) scored the first six points of the second extra stanza to pull away at home.
“This was as extreme as it gets,” coach Chris Mullin said. “We fouled a three-point shooter, then we went to the line with a chance to go up four, and then the next three [Marcus Derrickson] made. … I don’t know what to say about that.”
Shamorie Ponds tallied his second 30-point effort in the team’s last three outings, scoring 33 points to go along with eight assists, six rebounds and three steals. The Brooklyn native made 12 of his 23 tries from the floor and three of his seven attempts from three-point range.
St. John’s in a #FoulOrDefend -elect to defend and give up a 3 to Georgetown. WOW! @tsnmike pic.twitter.com/fsh6my0SWE
— Steve Finamore (@CoachFinamore) January 20, 2018
St. John’s last win came five days before Christmas — against St. Joe’s at Mohegan Sun Arena. The Red Storm remain the only winless team in the Big East and their schedule doesn’t get any easier.
Their next five games are Creighton, at Butler, Xavier, Duke and at No. 1 Villanova. It’s hard to see a win in that group.
Mullin is now 32-53 (.376) in two-plus seasons at his alma mater, 8-36 (.182) in the Big East. He has lost twice this season to his old college rival Patrick Ewing.
“Right after this tough loss it stings,” Mullin said. “Again, some things we can clean up. It’s a test, it’s definitely a test. We got to keep battling, work through it, believe in each other, keep the faith, stay diligent, and we’ll get there.”
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