Kadary Richmond’s last-second game winner saves St. John’s from second-half meltdown to Providence

Richmond finished with a season-high 24 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, three steals, and one giant dagger

Kadary Richmond gave St. John’s fans the performance — and the moment — they have waited for since he announced his commitment last May.

St. John’s brushed off some early game weirdness that included three different shot clock malfunctions in the opening minutes of play and a cold 3-of-21 start from the field to eventually take a comfortable 53-34 lead midway through the second half versus Providence on Saturday afternoon, but the Friars chipped away quickly.

Reserve wing Jabri Abdur-Rahim was Providence’s unlikely comeback hero who shot the lights out of Madison Square Garden. Abdur Rahim bagged a season-high 27 points and eight triples off the bench, including a pull-up three with 2:20 remaining in the second half to cut the Red Storm lead down to one. After missing his first seven shots, senior guard Bensley Joseph leveled the game at 66 all by sticking a top-of-the-key three with 33 seconds remaining.

With the game knotted up and a one-second difference on the game clock, Kadary Richmond dribbled the clock out, peeled around a Zuby Ejiofor screen, floated through the air, and uncorked a mid-range jumper to give St. John’s a 68-66 lead with three seconds remaining. Bensley Joseph’s halfcourt prayer at the buzzer couldn’t find iron, cementing another intense victory for St. John’s to push their winning streak to eight.

That critical mid-range basket was the flourish for a signature Richmond performance in which the Brooklyn native tallied a season-best 24 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, and three steals.

R.J. Luis posted 19 points and eight rebounds, draining three triples, while Zuby Ejiofor tallied 13 points and five rebounds. Deivon Smith struggled to shoot in his return from a shoulder injury that sidelined him for two games, scoring three points on 1-of-10 shooting, but he found a way to produce six assists and three steals.

The No. 15 St. John’s men’s basketball team (19-3, 10-1 Big East) has a short three-day turnaround before they host No. 9 Marquette (18-4, 10-2 Big East) in a game with significant Big East regular season title implications at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, February 4 (6:30 p.m., FS1).