There was no better way for Rick Pitino to secure the 900th official victory of his career.
With the Hall of Fame head coach facing off against his son Richard and his Xavier Musketeers, St. John’s pulled a rabbit out of its hat for the second straight game by rallying from a 16-point second-half deficit to steal an 88-83 victory at Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon.
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St. John’s couldn’t ask for a better start, taking a 20-11 lead with the help of eleven early points for Ian Jackson, but quickly ran out of gas as their reserves entered the game and Xavier picked up enough speed to pick up the momentum and maintain it even once the Red Storm starters returned, shooting 50% from the field and 7 of 14 from three at the half. The Musketeers closed the first half with a Fetty Wapping, outscoring the Red Storm by a total of 38-17 to take a 12-point lead into the locker room.
The Red Storm’s fortunes initially did not change after halftime as the Musketeers built their lead to 55-39 with 17:05 left in the second half, but at that point a change was triggered for the visitors. St. John’s responded with a 16-1 run that nearly erased its deficit. Xavier forward Tre Carroll scored the Musketeers’ next eleven points to maintain their lead, but St. John’s quickly took control and responded with a 13-3 run after Carroll headed to the bench for a breather with 9:09 left. Oziyah Sellers converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give St. John’s a 75-70 lead with 6:04 left.
When it seemed like St. John’s’ newly assembled three-man front line was finally coming into its own, they elevated their game in the second half. Dillon Mitchell was consistent throughout the game, flirting with a triple-double with 17 points, seven rebounds and a team-high six assists while providing four steals. Bryce Hopkins put his forgettable 2-for-10 first half behind him, scoring 14 of his team’s 18 second-half points and putting Xavier on their heels with his physical performance in the post. Zuby Ejiofor may have fouled out late, but he gave the Musketeers fits with 13 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
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Both teams continued to trade blows to close out the game. After St. John’s took a 79-74 lead with 2:41 remaining, Tre Carroll hit a step-back three-pointer over Ruben Prey to cut the Red Storm’s lead to two, his toughest make on a day when the defenseless senior made a lot of circus shots. Carroll led the Musketeers with a career-high 31 points on 12-of-22 shooting and 3-of-5 3-point shooting.
St. John’s needed a player to step up and close out the game against the Musketeers, and their key offense came from an unlikely source. Dylan Darling scored all eleven of his points in the second half, including a pair of critical baskets that put the Johnnies ahead each time.
Darling responded to Malik Messina-Moore’s game-tying layup with his own fingertip flick with 1:20 left. After Filip Borovicanin put the Red Storm on the brink with a go-ahead layup and one that gave Xavier an 82-81 lead, Darling iced Messina-Moore with a layup and scored a step-back three that would prove to be the winning basket for St. John’s with 53 seconds left. After the game, Rick Pitino said Darling had “balls as big as church bells” for his recent heroics.
St. John’s closed out Xavier’s last chance to respond, forcing a Tre Carroll error on the next possession to prove it was not invincible, and Ruben Prey iced the game with a layup to give the Red Storm an 86-82 lead with 15 seconds left.
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The road to Rick Pitino’s 1,000th victory begins on Wednesday, January 28, when St. John’s hosts the Butler Bulldogs at Madison Square Garden (7 p.m., Peacock).