Maybe St. John’s can survive if Shamorie Ponds decides to go pro after this season.
Playing without their superstar guard, who was sidelined with an abdominal strain, the shorthanded Red Storm’s supporting players took leading roles to pull off the team’s latest upset of an NCAA Tournament team, knocking off Butler, 75-68, in double overtime Wednesday night at Carnesecca Arena.
Without the Big East’s leading-scorer ��� whose status for Saturday’s regular-season finale at Providence is uncertain — St. John’s (15-15, 4-13) only received points from four players and was outscored 32-0 off the bench. However, inspired defense, a deafening arena and Justin Simon’s late-game heroics were just enough to end the team’s two-game slide.
Simon finished with a team-high 24 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals, while Bashir Ahmed added a season-high 22 points in his final home game and Marvin Clark scored 20.
Without the player St. John’s can’t afford to lose, Ponds’ sidekicks discovered their often-discussed, untapped potential.
“I told them I thought it was big for them,” coach Chris Mullin said. “I know they can do it, I tell them all the time. … For them to do it against a really good team in double overtime, that’s where you gain your confidence and all the talk becomes reality. … Until you do it yourself, you still have a little doubt. For that group there, it was really important.”
Though Butler (19-11, 9-8) uncharacteristically struggled shooting and hit just 35 percent from the field, its domination of the offensive glass and the play of Paul Jorgensen (17 points) allowed them to recover from a 12-point second-half deficit and take a five-point lead with 17 seconds remaining in regulation.
Simon then found Clark for a 3-pointer six seconds later, and after a Butler turnover, the Arizona transfer used a pretty spin move to sink the game-tying drive with four seconds remaining.
“When he’s going like that, he’s pretty dynamic,” Mullin said of Simon. “He’s fun to watch, and he stepped up when we needed him most. … He was really aggressive and made big plays. Like a lot of our wins, he’s usually in the middle of it all, doing good things.”
St. John’s took control of the first overtime by scoring the first six points, but Kamar Baldwin tied the game by hitting a 3-pointer, and later drawing a foul on Amar Alibegovic — playing 43 minutes after not seeing double-digit minutes in a month — and hitting three free throws with 48.1 seconds left.
Simon nearly delivered one of greatest endings the Queens crowd had ever seen, but his jumper at the buzzer bounced twice on the rim before drifting wide. Still, the redshirt sophomore was able to seal the game, scoring five straight points in the final minute of double overtime, beginning with his tie-breaking finger-roll with 46 seconds left.
From the sideline, Ponds stood and smiled, clapping and cheering on his teammates who have relied on him all season, and didn’t know he would be absent until the day of the game.
“I was a little winded out there, but whatever it took to get a W,” said Simon, who played all 50 minutes. “It’s hard to play without one of the best guards in the country but we’re real versatile … and any given night, when we play together, and play defense, anything can happen.”