Expectations were high for the St. John’s basketball team entering the second season under Rick Pitino. The combination of returning players and top transfers had many thinking the Johnnies could reach heights not seen in decades – and all of that is still possible but there is little margin for error.
St. John’s wanted to make a statement to the country this weekend in the Bahamas and looked like they were on its way with an 18-point first half lead against No. 13 Baylor and holding a five-point lead with less than ten seconds remaining in double overtime.
The Johnnies squandered that chance and then released all its positive momentum following a 25-point victory over Virginia the next day with its 66-63 loss to Georgia on Sunday to close its trip.
A weekend in which two victories would have been viewed as a positive now has the team searching for answers after two crushing losses.
It’s too early to truly know how these games will impact St. John’s NET ranking, a metric used to select and seed teams for the NCAA Tournament, but given other ranking tools it’s likely that Baylor will be a Quadrant 1 loss while Georgia is a Quad 2 loss. The hope for the team is that Virginia can put together a strong enough season to be a Quad 2 win.
However, the biggest result of the trio of games is that St. John’s (5-2) no longer has any room for error in its remaining non-conference games. There are only four left, but each one must be a victory.
It starts on Saturday (5:00 p.m. ET, Peacock) against Harvard (2-4) but then the stakes rise exponentially the following Saturday (11:30 a.m. ET, FOX) when Kansas State (4-2) comes to Carnesecca Arena for the Big East vs. Big 12 Battle.
The Wildcats are one of the most expensive teams in college basketball, headlined by Illinois transfer Coleman Hawkins who received approximately $2 million in NIL money from the program, but it has been a tough start to the season.
Jerome Tang’s team has not been impressive in its victories and already suffered a 11-point loss at home against LSU, in which the final score truly doesn’t show how much Kansas State was outplayed.
Most recently the Wildcats lost to Liberty on Sunday night in the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam, an event in which the program was the only power conference team in the field.
At the moment, St. John’s game against Kansas State has the same type of feel like Michigan from last season. It’s a matchup that the Red Storm cannot afford to lose, a byproduct of dropping two games in the Bahamas.
A victory over No. 13 Baylor and the chance to play No. 11 Tennessee, coupled with its Georgia game, could have jumpstarted an NCAA Tournament resume for St. John’s, but the Big East will provide for opportunities for marquee victories and it’s up to the Johnnies to makes those chances count by taking care of business first in its remaining non-conference bouts.