As ugly as St. John’s loss in Miami was, it was hardly damning to the Red Storm’s NCAA Tournament hopes. After all, Miami was ranked 13th in the country, and could hardly be considered a bad loss on anybody’s record. This afternoon’s game against Virginia Tech, on the other hand, is a different story.
St. John’s (16-8, 6-6) hosts the Hokies (8-16, 2-10) at 4 p.m. in Alumni Hall; a loss would send the Storm’s NCAA hopes down the same path as Enron. Many of the players admit they spent so much time in Miami dreaming about the big picture, they didn’t handle the little details. They’d better not fall into the same trap today.
“I’m not going to sit here and lie. We all thought like that. I guess you’ve got to play one game at a time, instead of [thinking too far ahead],” said Eric King.
Sharif Fordham agreed: “I know the younger guys were thinking about [the NCAAs]. It isn’t good. When you think about stuff like that, you stop thinking about the game you’re in.”
They might have been thinking ahead to March during Wednesday’s loss; their minds sure seemed a month away. Against a Tech team that has four double-figure scorers and the second-best rebound margin in the league, they need to get leading scorer Marcus Hatten, who was held to eight points on 2-of-12 shooting vs. the Hurricanes, back on track.
St. John’s stayed at 36th in the latest RPI, but a loss to the Hokies, ranked 204th, would change that.
After handing Tech one of its two league wins last season, St. John’s trailed the Hokies again at halftime in their Feb. 3 meeting in Blacksburg before gutting out a win.
“It was a struggle the last time. We were fortunate to win. They’re big, and physical. The record doesn’t mean anything,” coach Mike Jarvis said. “We have to be who we are. This is a blue-collar, 9-to-5, work-overtime team. We’ve got to work overtime if we’re going to get paid. If we show up and expect to just work bankers hours, we’re not going to get paid at all.”