Depleted St. John’s Can’t Pull Off Upset
After one of the worst weeks in St. John’s basketball history, a depleted team did its best to compete in front of a supportive crowd at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
With six players expelled or suspended for their role in visiting a strip club, the eight remaining players did the best they could before losing to Boston College, 89-61, on Sunday.
“The ability to represent St. John’s and its tradition under adverse conditions and for walk-ons to find themselves in the mecca of college basketball and respond the way they did was tremendous,” St. John’s Coach Kevin Clark said.
St. John’s (5-15, 0-9 Big East Conference) cut the deficit to 35-32 with 17:48 to play. But Boston College (15-7, 4-5) went on an 18-5 run and took control.
St. John’s had endured the dismissal of senior Willie Shaw after he was charged with possession of marijuana along with former St. John’s guard Marcus Hatten.
On Dec. 19, six games into his sixth season, Mike Jarvis became the first Big East coach fired during a season. Clark was appointed interim coach, and the Red Storm tied a school record with seven consecutive losses.
After a 71-51 loss at No. 4-ranked Pittsburgh on Wednesday, a 38-year-old woman told police she was gang-raped by St. John’s players she met at a strip club outside the city.
No criminal charges were filed against the players, but St. John’s quickly disciplined them.
Grady Reynolds, a senior, was expelled. Leading scorer Elijah Ingram, a sophomore, and senior Abraham Keita were permanently suspended from the team, and both may be expelled.
Freshman Lamont Hamilton and senior Mohamed Diakite were suspended. Freshman Tyler Jones was facing lesser discipline to be determined by Clark.
Sean Marshall had 23 points for the Eagles.
TOP 25
No. 1 Duke 81, Clemson 55 -- J.J. Redick scored 23 points, and freshman Luol Deng matched his career high with 22 to lift the Blue Devils (20-1, 9-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) at Durham, N.C.
The Blue Devils reached 20 victories for the eighth consecutive season. Duke has won 17 consecutive games overall and 38 in a row at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke defeated the Tigers (9-11, 2-7) for the 17th consecutive time.
No. 11 Texas 66, No. 22 Oklahoma 37 -- Brian Boddicker and Brandon Mouton scored 13 points apiece to lead the Longhorns (16-3, 7-1 Big 12) at Austin, Texas.
The Sooners (14-5, 4-4) committed 17 turnovers, shot 26% and were outrebounded, 44-30.
OTHER GAMES
Deron Williams had 19 points and Illinois (15-5, 6-3 Big Ten) rallied for a 79-69 victory over Minnesota (8-13, 0-9) at Minneapolis. The Gophers are 0-9 in conference play for the first time since 1932-33.... Matt Jensen and Taylor Coppenrath each had 18 points, and Vermont (15-5, 11-0 American East) got past Northeastern, 67-65, at Boston. Jose Juan Barea had a game-high 28 points for the Huskies (14-9, 8-4).... Keith Waleskowski had a game-high 18 points to help Dayton (19-3, 9-0 Atlantic 10) in a 66-59 victory over Massachusetts (9-12, 3-6) at Amherst, Mass.