St. John’s basketball enters must-win scenario against Georgetown

St. John’s basketball enters a must-win game against Georgetown on Sunday night.

Yes, its December 20 and no one wants to play in a must-win game, but the St. John’s basketball team has that in front of them against Georgetown on Sunday night.

Just a week following the first meeting of the season between these two programs, they meet again after the Hoyas (3-3, 1-0 Big East) were able to defeat the Johnnies (5-4, 0-3 Big East) 97-94 in overtime.

It was a game the Red Storm needed to win following its conference opening loss to Seton Hall and a game in which St. John’s looked to have insurmountable leads multiple times in the second half.

Nevertheless, Mike Anderson‘s team was unable to hold on in its battle against Patrick Ewing‘s team and the Johnnies let another game slip through their fingers on Thursday night against No. 9 Creighton.

ALSO READ: St. John’s target Kyle Cuffe Jr. commits to Kansas

After falling behind early, St. John’s rallied to cut its 16-point defect down to two in the second half before collapsing in the final 14 minutes, falling behind by as many as 23, eventually falling by 18 points.

Georgetown has not played since its victory over the Red Storm last Sunday.

St. John’s saw Isaih Moore, Posh Alexander, Julian Champagnie, Greg Williams Jr., and Marcellus Earlington reach double-figures against the Hoyas while Georgetown saw freshman guard Dante Harris explode for 22 points.

Senior guard Jahvon Blair added 20 points, Donald Carey dropped 19 points, and sophomore center Qudus Wahab nearly recorded a triple-double with 17 points, ten rebounds, and nine blocks.

St. John’s basketball could see light at end of tunnel

In what looked like a daunting task and despite a winless conference record, a win on Sunday could go a long way for the Johnnies.

Perhaps catching a break with its postponed game against Villanova on December 30, St. John’s has its next two games and Georgetown and DePaul, both at Carnesecca Arena.

ALSO READ: St. John’s updates times, postponements in Big East schedule

Two victories could get the Red Storm to 2-3 in Big East play and give the team a new sense of life heading into a brutal January stretch.

However, this team cannot look ahead as it must defeat Georgetown at home on Sunday.

Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30pm EST (Fox Sports 1).

PREDICTION: St. John’s 82, Georgetown 73