NEW YORK — When the Big East Tournament starts the week after next at Madison Square Garden, St. John’s will be forced to play on the first day as one of the bottom eight seeds.
In order to make the NCAA Tournament for a second year in a row, the young Johnnies would have to win five games in five days a la Kemba Walker and company.
And while that scenario seems improbable for a team with only six recruited scholarship players, the Johnnies will be the only team at the event playing on their home court.
“I’m pretty sure everybody on the team is looking forward to it,” St. John’s freshman Moe Harkless said after putting up a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds as the Johnnies snapped No. 20 Notre Dame’s nine-game winning streak, 61-58, thanks to a late driving layup by Amir Garrett and a missed 3-pointer in the final seconds by Notre Dame’s Alex Dragicevich.
“It’s going to be a great experience and I think we could surprise a lot of people if we keep playing the way we are.”
After a four-game losing streak, St. John’s (13-16, 6-10 Big East) has won three straight, including back-to-back Garden wins over UCLA and Notre Dame.
They have six Big East wins despite the fact that their coach, Steve Lavin, is out for the season while recovering from prostate cancer, and two point guards (Nurideen Lindsey and Malik Stith) both left the team mid-season.
They start five frosh and bring one junior college transfer, God’sgift Achiuwa, off the bench.
Yet both Harkless and D’Angelo Harrison (15 points, five rebounds) are in the mix for Big East Rookie of the Year honors. And Harrison now stands just six points away from tying Erick Barkley’s program scoring record for freshman (500 points).
“That’s really hard and that’s why I think [interim coach Mike Dunlap] has done a fabulous job,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “He’s handling a lot of stuff. I just think he’s done a fabulous job, as good as any job done in this league
“When you don’t have any men to lean on. We have Scott Martin, Jack Cooley. We have some guys that have been around a little bit. I can’t even relate to what they’re doing because I’ve always had some seniors to lean on.”
The Johnnies don’t have any seniors, but they have some talented, fearless frosh who believe they can do anything once the Big East tourney starts.
“We’re just ready to play,” Harrison said. “The Garden’s our home so we just want to take care of it.”
