Three video games into convention play, St. John’s hit a crossroads.
It was Jan. 3, and the Pink Storm had simply blown a double-digit lead over the ultimate minutes of a back-breaking loss to lowly Windfall at Madison Sq. Backyard.
That 77-71 defeat dropped St. John’s — the No. 5-ranked group within the nation to begin the season — to 9-5 total and 2-1 in Massive East play.
Head coach Rick Pitino didn’t sugarcoat the state of affairs.
“Now our backs are to the wall very early in the season,” Pitino stated on the time.
Lower than three weeks later, that eye-opening afternoon on the Backyard represents a turning level for St. John’s.
The Pink Storm entered Tuesday evening’s assembly with Seton Corridor on the Backyard on a season-long four-game successful streak since that house loss to Windfall.
All 4 victories have been by at the least seven factors, and three got here on the highway, together with on Saturday evening towards a Villanova group with NCAA Event aspirations.
“After the Providence game, there was a bad taste in all of our mouths, and we didn’t want to feel that type of pain again,” St. John’s ahead Bryce Hopkins stated.
“A switch flipped for me and the guys. I feel like every day, when we come into practice, we’re preparing at a high level … just to be able to face adversity. … I feel like the guys are coming together at the right time.”
After successful final yr’s Massive East common season and convention event championships, St. John’s retooled with a switch class that many touted as the very best within the nation.
That fueled sky-high expectations for this season, however St. John’s fell out of the nationwide rankings after a disappointing non-conference slate by which it misplaced to Alabama, Iowa State, Auburn and Kentucky.
The defeat by Windfall marked the fifth time this season that St. John’s misplaced a recreation by which it led in the course of the second half.
That loss served as a wake-up name, prompting a group assembly by which the gamers vowed to tighten issues up.
“It was a group thing,” guard Ian Jackson stated. “All of us know we don’t want to feel that way again. So … we’re going to prepare the right way. We’re gonna do things the right way. We’re going to pay attention to the little things that make big things happen.”
The Pink Storm’s backs aren’t practically as up towards the wall as they have been on Jan. 3, however they nonetheless have work to do.
St. John’s entered Tuesday with a 13-5 document, together with 6-1 towards Massive East groups. However St. John’s is but to defeat a ranked opponent, nor has it confronted No. 2 UConn, which is 18-1 total and an ideal 8-0 in Massive East play.
In line with the NET Rankings, that are the NCAA’s main analysis device, the Johnnies’ house loss to Windfall went down as a probably expensive Quad 3 loss — the worst mark on the Pink Storm’s résumé.
However there are many video games remaining to bolster the St. John’s résumé, too. Within the newest AP ballot, St. John’s obtained 64 votes, tying it with Wisconsin for probably the most amongst colleges that didn’t crack this week’s prime 25.
“After I informed the fellows, ‘Our backs are to the wall,’ and so they all bear in mind this, I stated, ‘There’s not a group I’ve ever coached with their backs to the wall that I’d relatively coach than you guys. There’s not a shadow of a doubt that you just guys will win,’ Pitino stated.
“Four minutes of bad basketball, that’s not going to [define] who you are.”
