Auburn and Its VIP Pound Out an Upset of St. John’s, 81-65

They aren’t just heavy, they’re the Auburn Tigers, who squashed St. John’s and turned the Big East carriage back into a pumpkin. The conference that put three teams in the Final Four last year, has none in this year’s Sweet 16 and is now available for speaking engagements.

The Redmen, Big East champions and postseason tournament winners, ranked No. 3 in the nation and seeded No. 1 in the West, went quietly Sunday in Long Beach Arena, slipping beneath the beefy Auburn front line that pummeled them to the tune of 81-65.

It didn’t seem that close. St. John’s had its last lead at 11-10. The Redmen trailed by 12 at halftime, when Chuck Person was outrebounding the entire St. John’s team, 10-9, and the team totals for rebounds were 23-9.

The expected Redmen rally brought them only as close as 63-55 and then died. Their season followed shortly.

“It’s an upset if you go by numerical order (Auburn was the West’s eighth-seeded team),” St. John’s Coach Lou Carnesecca said. “But it wasn’t an upset.

“We looked anemic today. They looked much more physical. The second half, it looked like it wasn’t fair.

“Nobody belted us the way they did. And we played them all.”

They were lucky it took this long to get to the cradle of power forwards, a program capable of losing a Charles Barkley, who once went 290 as a Tiger, and coming back with another squadron of porpoises.

There was the 6-8, 215-pound Person (OK, let’s get it out of the way), the missing Person on all the All-American teams, who had 27 points and 15 rebounds.

Person is highly rated by NBA scouts and was an Olympic alternate in 1984 but has always been eclipsed, publicity-wise at least, by Southeastern Conference favorites such as Barkley or Kentucky’s Kenny Walker.

At Auburn, someone suggested recently, it’s Bo Jackson, Charles Barkley and Chuck Person.

“At Auburn,” corrected Person, “it’s Bo Jackson, Charles Barkley, spring football and Chuck Person.”

Now Person stands alone, but with reinforcements waiting, such as 6-7, 230-pound center Jeff Moore and 6-7, 220-pound Michael Jones, a freshman whose growing years are presumably ahead of him. Auburn even has a guard, Frank Ford, who goes 215. The heaviest St. John’s starter was Walter Berry, who weighs 215 pounds.

“We got the best diet in the country,” Auburn Coach Sonny Smith drawled. “They don’t put it out, they make ‘em go get it. And mine pick up everything. On campus and off.

“That’s in restaurants, not in stores now. The hubcaps stay intact.”

The Redmen were supposed to be countering with quickness, balance, intelligence, some thing. Whatever it was, it was missing Sunday.

The Tigers dropped into a packed-in zone that was designed to contain Berry and challenge the Redmen to beat them from the outside.

It didn’t stop Berry, who had 16 points at halftime. Forward Willie Glass tossed in three jumpers, but every other Redman came to a screeching halt. At the half, the other five Redmen who’d played had a total of five field goals.

“Me and Ron Rowan’s job isn’t to light the scoreboard up,” said St. John’s point guard Mark Jackson. Something better than a 2-for-9 first half might have come in handy, though.

Carnesecca said: “We scored enough points. I think we were rather generous with our defense the first half. They hit us with everything but the kitchen sink.”

The Tigers scored four baskets on offensive rebounds in the first 5:57. The few rebounds the Redmen got weren’t handled too cleanly, either. Rowan and Terry Bross had the ball taken off them in the backcourt, resulting in two more thunderous dunks.

After that, it was showcase time, in Person’s case long overdue.

“I was very disappointed, not to make any AP, UPI All-America teams,” Person said later. “I found out when we were flying from Atlanta to here.

“It was very emotional for me, I didn’t know how to take it. I felt like I deserved it. I felt like I had to go out in the tourney and prove I could play with the best people in the nation. I’m not bragging but that’s the way I feel.”

Carnesecca said: “I told him, ‘Take the money and run.’ ”

Carnesecca’s star, Berry, finished with 20 points. In between pledges to stay at St. John’s for his senior season, Berry has also said that if he learned he’d go first in the NBA draft, he’d think about leaving. A No. 2 or 3 spot on the first round might not seem like chopped liver to him, either.

So when Carnesecca pulled Berry with 1:36 left and Auburn ahead, 77-61, and slapped him a high five, or as high as Louie could get, there was the possibility it was for the last time as a Redman.

Berry was found later in an arena aisle, wearing his warmups and Walkman earphones, in conversation with a Nike equipment man.

Had the Tigers been too physical?

“I’m not up to it right now,” Berry said.

Carnesecca: “Nobody feels very good. This is gonna happen to everyone but one guy. All of us feel the sting of defeat. There’s nothing wrong with that. . . .

“It’s not the end of the world. We have our arms. We have our legs. Now, it’s wait till next year.”