St. John’s Red Storm Falls to Gonzaga in the NIT Season Tip-Off Final

The St. John’s Red Storm put up a valiant and sometimes gutty effort against the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the NIT Season Tip-Off Final on Friday night, but sometimes playing with heart does not make up for playing with a low basketball IQ. With that being said, though, there were plenty of positives for the Johnnies despite the loss.

There were also a slew of negatives. Chris Obekpa got some silly fouls and would eventually foul out. The Johnnies would consistently rush some three-point attempts during stretches of the game that would allow the Zags to build a lead. The lead that the Zags would build off the Red Storm not attacking the basket, mind you, might be the biggest reason they eventually lost.

Still, St. John’s showed a lot of heart. When Obekpa fouled out of the game with over six minutes of action left the Red Storm were forced to play small. Not a single player in the lineup was over 6’6″, and it might have resulted in the best offensive possessions of the night. Sir’Dominic Pointer excelled playing in the high post, D’Angelo Harrison got hot in the second-half and also committed himself on the defensive end of the ball and the overall feel of the Red Storm felt more fluid.

St. John’s even made a courageous effort at the end of the game. Down by 10 late, the Red Storm started to — uncharacteristically — hit some three-pointers. Unfortunately for them, though, there was just not enough time on the clock to pull off the upset over the 10th ranked team in the country.

The game eventually came down to the St. John’s Red Storm down by three with only 25 seconds left on the clock. A ball went out of bounds, ruled off the Red Storm, but the referees decided to review it. After the decision was overturned and the Johnnies were rewarded the basketball it was up to Steve Lavin to draw up a play that would put the team in the position to either cut the lead to one or even tie it with a three. And then, well, then…

A glitchy, incredibly non-fluid possession would happen, which resulted in Harrison eventually running into a Bulldogs player and being charged with the foul. Gonzaga would go the the charity stripe in the double-bonus and put the game out of reach with 9.6 seconds left.

Again, nothing to be ashamed of if you are a fan of the Johnnies. This could certainly be used as proof that St. John’s could play with anyboy. Especially considering the fact that they played very sloppy for long stretches of time and better basketball is in their future.

The loss drops St. John’s to 4-1 on the season.

Phil Green IV led the way for the Red Storm with 20 points. Rysheed Jordan added 19 and Harrison 15.