5 days ago
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Every loss in this Red Storm season has featured a more agonizing late-game collapse than the last. It will be difficult to top this one.
St. John’s squandered two double-digit leads in their 77-71 loss to Providence at Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon, suddenly creating uncertainty for the Red Storm’s tournament aspirations.
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The Red Storm failed to capitalize on a stellar 13-0 start against a rusty Friars squad coming off a 15-day break. Providence climbed back as St. John’s missed 15 of their next 20 shots, but the Red Storm got their momentum after Zuby Ejiofor and Duncan Powell were involved in a shoving match by the visitors’ bench late in the first half, taking a 38-31 lead into the break.
Control of this game did not slip from the Johnnies’ grasp until 7:25 remaining in the second half. At that time, Joson Sanon and Bryce Hopkins combined to miss three layups on the same possession, which could have put the Red Storm ahead by a healthy 12 points, but that miscue snowballed into a 25-9 run for the Friars to close the game.
Zuby Ejiofor was all by himself on offense. The senior center recorded a career-high 33 points on 8-of-16 shooting and 3-of-6 from three, but none of his teammates could pick up the slack. Excluding Ejiofor, the Red Storm shot 12-of-55 from the field (21.8%) and were 4-of-25 from three (16%). No one besides the man in the middle could score in double figures.
One season ago, Friars guard Jabri Abdur-Rahim initiated his own comeback attempt over the Johnnies by himself with a 27-point explosion and a career-best 8-of-11 from three off the bench, but failed after Kadary Richmond made a game-winning mid-range jumper. Facing similar circumstances on Saturday, freshman Stefan Vaaks succeeded in carrying Providence back.
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The Estonian guard scored 15 second-half points, including four three-pointers. Down five with 2:55 remaining, Vaaks buried a three and drew a foul against Dylan Darling to bring Providence within one, and then Vaaks drilled another three less than a minute later to put the Friars ahead for good.
Falling to a record of 9-5, the Red Storm will hit the road when they head to Indianapolis to face the Butler Bulldogs (10-4, 1-2 Big East) on Tuesday, January 6. Tip-off from Hinkle Fieldhouse is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., and the game can be streamed on Peacock.
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