MILWAUKEE — Not much more than one month ago, St. John’s had dropped inexcusable road games at Creighton and DePaul, resulting in five losses in the first seven Big East games and the belief that the Red Storm would miss the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year.
With a 67-51 win over last-place Marquette at the Bradley Center on Wednesday night, St. John’s took another leap away from a Red Storm team which no longer exists, showing improved focus and maturity while hitting 12-of-24 3-pointers to enter Saturday’s regular season-ending showdown with first-place Villanova on a four-game winning streak.
Winning for the seventh time in the past eight games, St. John’s (21-9, 10-7) matched Steve Lavin’s first-year team (2010-11) for the program’s highest win total in the past 12 years, erasing any lingering doubt and/or fear of being left out on Selection Sunday by clinching a winning record in the Big East.
“Coach [Lavin] called this a trap game,” senior D’Angelo Harrison said. “I know what it’s like to struggle in the Big East. They wanted to win. I saw it in their face. We were just like, ‘Not tonight.’ ”
Lavin concurred, refusing to rely on a thin bench against the Golden Eagles (11-18, 3-14), who have lost 12 of their past 13 games. With Jamal Branch sidelined with a minor groin injury, four starters — Harrison, Rysheed Jordan, Phil Greene and Sir’Dominic Pointer — played 40 minutes, combining for all but two points.
During the Red Storm’s recent surge, Lavin has reiterated that the team still can get better, often citing Jordan’s incredibly high ceiling as a reason why. Continuing one of the best stretches of his career, the sophomore showed his incredible potential, hitting 5-of-9 3-pointers to score a game-high 23 points, and is now nearly shooting 37 percent from the perimeter after hitting under 28 percent as a freshman.
In the past four games, Jordan has averaged 16.5 points, 4.3 assists, 4.5 rebounds, two steals and 1.5 turnovers.
“He’s found his stride again,” Lavin said. “He’s finding that groove, and he’s clearly in rhythm. He’s [making] good judgments, and he’s been very efficient.”
Though St. John’s was never threatened in the second half, led by Harrison, who scored 16 of his 21 points after the break, Marquette kept it close early, using the playbook from its near-upset at the Garden to slow the game to a back-and-forth crawl.
Trading multiple leads, neither team led by more than four through the first 17 minutes, but the Red Storm showed the talent disparity in the final few minutes, taking a 34-27 lead at halftime, as Pointer added another argument to his Big East Player of the Year candidacy, finishing with a typically sensational line of 10 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks.
On Saturday, St. John’s senior class faces Villanova for perhaps the final time, still searching for its first-ever win against the Wildcats, now believing more than ever that anything is possible.
“It’s hard to beat us when we’re all making shots,” Harrison said. “We become a tough team, a dangerous team.
“We get that one on Saturday, it puts us in a great position with momentum going into the Big East Tournament. And we’re going to try and cut down the nets.”