Perhaps the only solace St. John's fans can take concerning yesterday's 78-64 loss to Northeastern yesterday is that Connecticut, Pittsburgh and Villanova, Big East rivals all have suffered losses like this. to mid major clubs stocked with lots of uppercalssmen who've been through the grind of college basketball games and seasons before. And while the Red Storm's loss might not have the impact of the other three on the national polls, it is the kind of loss that young Big East teams like St. John's may find costly as they try to earn a post season berth.
The Huskies brought with them experience in the form of three starting juniors and one starting senior. Junior guard Joel Smith fired in an opening trey from the left side just seconds into the game. It would be one of seven triples he'd score and one of 9 the Huskies would make on18 tries.
The Huskies also brought with them toughness that showed itself statistically in the rebounds column where they outdid the Red Storm 45-19. And while the rebounds margin can be partially explained by St. John's zone defense and the absence of block-out responsibilities that comes when teams play that way, there was more trouble. Northeastern seemingly got to every ball on the floor, came up with every rebound in traffic and when it counted out toughed a St. John's team that has both talent and toughness but, with six newcomers may still be learning to compete for 40 minutes.
To their credit St. John's did fight back after coach Bill Coen's team sprinted to a 26-14 advantage in the opening 20 minutes. Smith and Jonathan Lee's deep shooting and tough work inside gave them the early advantage but the Red Storm rallied behind God'sgift Achiuwa, who bounced back from three subpar games to finish with 17 points and 9 rebounds, and Nurideen Lindsey, whose tough off balance jumper from the key as the buzzer sounded sent St. John's to the locker room trailing by just 33-31.
The Johnies outscored Northeastern 6-2 out of the locker room and briefly took their first lead at 37-35 They led again 43-42 when Sir'Dominic Pointer drove in for a dunk, but unlike two other veteran mid=major teams that the Red Storm faced earlier this season, Lehigh and William & Mary, Northeastern, to use coach Mike Dunlap's phrase "pushed back harder".
` Smith put in two threes sandwiched around a Jonathan Lee layup that gave the Huskies a 50-43 lead and the two teams traded baskets after that. A Harkless triple with just under 8 minutes left got the Red Storm to within 4 at 59-55. But that's when the Huskies delivered what would be the battle's final blow, an 11-0 spurt over a little less than 4 minutes that provided a 70-55 lead they'd never relinquish. In addition to Achiuwa's strong game Lindsey finished with 16 points for St. John's which went to 4-3 with the loss. Dunlap once again subbed running the team while coach Steve Lavin continues to follow a modified schedule following prostate cancer surgery. St. John's, which plays at Kentucky in the Big East/SEC Challenge Thursday drops to 4-3 with the loss.
Smith led 4 double-figure scorers for Northeastern with 29 points. The Huskies improved to 3-1 on the year with the win.
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