CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s more than just a basketball game.
Sure, it will be 40 minutes split into two halves, five a side, the rims still 10-feet high. But when ninth-seeded St. John’s meet No. 8 San Diego State at the Time Warner Cable Arena in an NCAA Tournament South Region second-round contest, much more than a victory will be at stake:
The legacy of this senior class, the future of coach Steve Lavin and the overall direction of the program.
The senior trio of D’Angelo Harrison, Phil Greene IV and Sir’Dominic Pointer is all that is left of the third-ranked recruiting class Lavin brought to Queens four years ago. They have done a lot of good for St. John’s, compiling a career record of 71-59, reaching the postseason the past three years, all 1,000-point scorers. But they also have a career postseason mark of 1-6, are 4-11 in March, did not win a Big East Tournament game and are in their first NCAA Tournament.
“We want to go out with a bang,” Greene said. “This is our last year. We don’t want to lose the first game. We’re not just happy to be here. We want to make a run.”
“It’s a great feeling, but I want to win games in this tournament,” echoed Harrison, the third all-time leading scorer in program history. “I just want to win. I’m going to do anything it takes, if I got to get 15 rebounds, 15 assists.”
Then there is Lavin, in the fifth year of a six-year contract. St. John’s has declined to comment on his contract situation, other than to say he will be evaluated when the season comes to a close.
Lavin has led St. John’s to a pair of NCAA bids in five years — the school had gone nine years without one before his arrival — but he also has an underwhelming 2-7 postseason record. He earmarked 2015 as a key recruiting year, yet he only has one impact recruit at the moment, and could lose his top six players.
Sources told The Post this weekend could determine Lavin’s future.
“There’s never been any acrimony or any sense that it’s an issue,” Lavin said. “This is the best contract I’ve had in my coaching career, if we’re going to talk about contracts.”
Friday night will be challenging, facing San Diego State (26-8), a stifling defense-oriented that allows just 53.1 points per game, second-fewest in the country. The Aztecs are big, long and athletic, starting four players 6-foot-7 or taller, and St. John’s big man Chris Obekpa won’t be available, suspended two weeks retroactive to last Sunday for testing positive for marijuana use, according to sources.
It will be guards against forwards, small ball against a traditional look. St. John’s (21-11) is the underdog, the team with no NCAA Tournament experience against one overloaded with it, the Aztecs making their sixth straight appearance.
“I feel like they’re going to have to match up with us,” Harrison said. “I know they’re bigger than us, but Dom at the five is tough. I feel like the matchup is in our favor. When Chris is out of the game, we’re better off offensively. It makes us harder to guard.”
It’s been 15 years since St. John’s has won an NCAA Tournament game. So much is on the line, for the players and the coach and the program. But the Red Storm also don’t want to make too much out of Friday night, because it could work against them.
“We’re going to live in the moment and we’re going to come out with a lot of energy,” Greene said. “When the ball goes up, it’s anyone’s game and we’re going to come ready and prepared.”