Notre Dame 83 – St. John’s 63
Pardon the interuption, but we’ve lost track of what’s important.
We’ve been so absorbed in whether St. John’s would garner an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament we forgot the importance of performing well at the Big Dance.
How embarrassing it will be if the Red Storm play in the NCAA Tournament as they did in the Big East Conference Tournament.
One night after admitting it was a lousy offensive team that had learned to succeed with hustle and defense, St. John’s did neither in an 83-63 loss to Notre Dame in last night’s final quarterfinal game.
The Red Storm allowed the Irish to shoot 63 percent in the first half in assuming a 42-28 lead. Of Notre Dame’s 17 baskets, 13 came off assists.
Meanwhile, the Red Storm were lousy on offense. They shot 37.5 percent with just five baskets coming off assists.
Notre Dame (21-9) meets Connecticut (22-6) in tonight’s second semifinal. St. John’s (20-11) must wait until Selection Sunday for its next action.
We have come to accept the Red Storm’s offensive limitations, just as the players have. After missing their first 18 shots of the second half of Wednesday night’s 64-58 come-from-behind win over Seton Hall, guard Willie Shaw acknowledged the Storm’s offense isn’t easy on the eyes.
“It’s tough,” said Shaw. “You don’t know when we’re going to get a point or who it’s going to come from.”
Defensive intensity, however, has usually come from all the St. John’s players. Not on this night.
Seven of Notre Dame’s 17 baskets were layups. Throw in five foul shots and 19 of Notre Dame’s 42 first-half points were scored without breaking a sweat.
If the Storm plays this way in the NCAA Tournament, they won’t have worry about packing deodorant. They’ll simply stink out the joint.
Just before the start of the second half Notre Dame’s Ryan Humphrey was asked if the Irish could shoot 75 percent in the second half.
“We’re going for 80,” Humphrey said with a grin.
Eighty is the number St. John’s coach Mike Jarvis had feared. On Feb. 27 the Red Storm outscored the Irish 84-81 here in The Garden. It was only the third time in 2002 that St. John’s had scored 80 or more points in a game.
“Eighty is a lot of points,” Jarvis said Wednesday night. “That’s the thing that in a way scares me. I just don’t know how many nights we got 80s in us. But then again, maybe we can find a way to stop Notre Dame. They’re a great offensive team. So we’ll see what happens.”
What happened is that St. John’s got complacent on defense. The Irish are a skilled offensive group, averaging 78.7 points, second-best in the Big East this season.
By halftime the Irish were halfway to 80. St. John’s was halfway to the end of the regular season.
And if the Red Storm play this way in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, they’ll be fully disappointing.