St. John’s men’s basketball pulls off overtime comeback against Xavier

The Red Storm completed a smash-and-grab win after falling behind by 16 points to the Musketeers

One week after completing a 15-point comeback win over Georgetown, St. John’s snatched victory from the jaws of defeat yet again.

The 20th-ranked Red Storm clawed out of a 16-point second-half hole against Xavier, overcame their mishaps in critical moments to force overtime, then delivered the finishing blow in the extra period to win 79-71 and add to a growing anthology of come-from-behind victories this season.

At first, Xavier were not only ready for the Red Storm’s physicality after a humbling 82-72 defeat to the Johnnies over two weeks ago, but they were the aggressors against a top-ten ranked defense. The Musketeers took turns gashing the Red Storm’s paint defense with cuts and drives to the basket, as St. John’s looked uncharacteristically vulnerable in the paint. Ryan Conwell, Dailyn Swain, and Zach Freemantle each scored in double-figures before the halftime buzzer.

The Musketeers closed out the first half with a prolonged 24-12 run to take a 40-30 lead into the break, shooting 50 percent from the field and four-of-six from deep, matching their three-point total from their January 7 meeting. The Red Storm found themselves shooting 34% from the field and only hitting 1-of-9 from three. However, they couldn’t create extra scoring chances to compensate for another lackluster shooting performance, as they were even in rebounds and turnovers.

St. John’s continued to get picked apart on defense at the onset of the second half, giving up open looks inside and outside the arc. Marcus Foster drilled a corner three to give Xavier its largest lead of the night at 50-34 with 17:02 remaining in the second half.

Pushed to the brink, St. John’s rallied with more intensity and effort as they have traditionally done in second halves this season. However, they made life difficult for themselves with some self-inflicted errors.

Xavier was stuck in a five-minute scoring slump after a Dailyn Swain dunk gave them a 52-38 lead with 15:18 remaining, yet St. John’s hamstrung a potential rally with two consecutive silly turnovers as they entered the under-twelve media timeout: one from a wandering entry pass by Simeon Wilcher that somehow eluded Zuby Ejiofor’s reach and caromed into the first row, the other came from a whiffed Kadary Richmond dunk that bounced off the rim and out of play. With 9:51 left in the second half, Zuby Ejiofor cut the Red Storm deficit down to six with a spin-around dunk, but St. John’s failed to stay connected on defense and allowed a wide-open three to Ryan Conwell on the next possession.

It’s a testament to the Red Storm’s determination and composure that they did not allow these miscues to imperil their comeback attempt. St. John’s’ defense stonewalled Xavier, holding the Musketeers to only three more field goals in the regulation period after Conwell’s triple.

Kadary Richmond locked in and orchestrated the game’s momentum-shifting run with Xavier’s offense held in check. Down by seven with seven minutes remaining, Simeon Wilcher rejected a Ryan Conwell pull-up jumper as Richmond leaped for the sky-high rebound, then flung an outlet pass to Wilcher on the opposite end for a breakaway layup to chop the lead down to five.

A few plays later, with 4:58 remaining, Richmond slipped around a pick and sank a pull-up jumper from mid-range to cut Xavier’s lead to 60-59. Out of the media timeout, Richmond bolted to the basket and made a tough contested layup to give St. John’s their first lead since they were up 18-16 with 8:54 left in the first half. St. John’s pressed on the following inbound, and R.J. Luis capitalized on a poor attempt by Ryan Conwell to save possession by scooping the ball up and laying it in.

Xavier re-took the lead with a three by Conwell and a putback layup by Freemantle, but Richmond would again attack the basket to tie the game up. Both teams had multiple opportunities to ice the game late, but each committed turnovers to send the game into overtime.

St. John’s bull-rushed the gassed Musketeers early in overtime, zipping to an 8-0 run that was punctuated by Zuby Ejiofor’s old-fashioned three-point play to give the Red Storm a 73-65 lead.

Xavier would try mustering a counter-punch, but St. John’s clamped down and held the Musketeers to only one basket on six attempts in the overtime period. The Red Storm would shoot 8-of-11 from the free throw line in the extra five minutes to seal the game.

Four Red Storm players finished in double-figures, including Kadary Richmond, who led the team with a season-high 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Zuby Ejiofor, Simeon Wilcher, and R.J. Luis contributed 16 points apiece.

Improving to a record of 17-3 overall (best since 1989-90) and an 8-1 mark in the Big East (best since 1998-99), St. John’s will enjoy a much-needed six-game break before they travel to our nation’s capitol to face the Georgetown Hoyas on Tuesday, January 28 (6:30 p.m., FS1).