When St. John’s left Madison Square Garden on Dec. 13, optimism overflowed onto Seventh Avenue, carried by a red-and-white-clad crowd crowing about its upset over Syracuse, excited the young Red Storm could be far better than predictions and polls led them to believe.
When St. John’s left the Garden on Wednesday night, fans could only wonder when they would feel that way again.
Winless since that high point of Chris Mullin’s first season as coach, the Red Storm suffered its eighth straight loss Wednesday, 93-73, to Georgetown, marking their most lopsided loss since the 22-point setback to Incarnate Word, which started the streak on Dec. 18.
The Hoyas (11-6, 4-1), with senior D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera matching a career-high of 33 points, led from start to finish and won for the fifth time in six games, leaving St. John’s (7-11, 0-5) still in search of its first Big East win this season when it plays Saturday at No. 23 Butler.
“The way we’ve been playing, we’re gonna win some games,” Mullin said. “The only way we won’t is if we let a game like this get us down. It’s my job and we’ll do it together. We’re not going to let that happen. It’s not that overwhelming to deal with.
“I told them they’ll get their wins because we’ve been very close.”
The blowout unexpectedly emerged after near-upsets of Xavier and Marquette, a result of Georgetown hitting nearly 52 percent from the field, while the Red Storm’s season-long shooting struggles continued.
St. John’s shot under 30 percent in the first half — and trailed 45-28 – while hitting under 39 percent for the game, with Ron Mvouika’s team-high 15 points all coming after the break and after the outcome had been decided.
In the second half, Smith-Rivera (11-of-16, 5-of-8 on 3-pointers) kept Georgetown comfortably ahead, extending the lead to as many as 27 points.
“We came out, we were sleepwalking to tell you the truth, and those guys got comfortable and they started making shots,” St, John’s swingman Durand Johnson said. “Sometimes it just happens. I don’t know the reason. I don’t really have an explanation for that.”
In Mullin’s first game against Georgetown since the final game of his collegiate career — at the 1985 Final Four — any remnants of one of college basketball’s best all-time rivalries had been removed.
The matchup felt no different than an early-season meeting with NJIT or Niagara, the crowd continually chatting through the action, clapping as if it stood beside an 11th fairway. There was no emotion and no electricity and no animosity, preventing Mullin from even a moment to reflect on what once meant so much to so many.
Long before the final buzzer sounded, fans began spilling out onto Seventh Avenue, hopeful such agonizing nights lead to better days.
“We knew this was going to be a tough year. Just look at our roster. That’s what it’s going to be,” Mullin said. “When we get more experience, then all these things are gonna come back and be valuable to us. We’ll look back on it and say it was worth it.”