NEW YORK—St. John’s seniors have experienced a lot of firsts this season. From regularly beating top ranked teams to becoming a top 25 team themselves, the Johnnies were in previously uncharted territory over the past decade.
Still, those seniors had a hole in the resume. Beating Syracuse—the only team in the Big East Conference against whom they hadn’t notched up a victory.
The Red Storm had a chance to get that win over the Orange in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals but were unable to do so in a 79–73 loss at Madison Square Garden on Thursday afternoon.
After losing senior forward D.J. Kennedy with a right knee injury with 14:25 left in the first half, No. 18 St. John’s would quickly trail No. 11 Syracuse 14–5. Despite not having one of their best players, the Johnnies were able to take a 37–32 halftime lead.
The lead was soon be squandered as the Orange opened up the second half on a 13–4 run and took the lead at 45–41 with 16:00 left in the game.
While the game yo-yoed back and forth the rest of the way, a Dwight Hardy (22 points) travel with 1:06 to play with the Red Storm down 74–70 sealed their fate.
While St. John’s achieved the season’s main goal of qualifying for the NCAA tournament, how deep of a run they make could very well depend on the health of Kennedy’s right knee.
