Sports
�������������������������� Sherbee Antiques TOP DOLLAR PAID
����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
St. John’s faces tense end to season
Johnnies need strong showing in Big East Tournament to secure spot in NCAA Tournament
BY STEPHEN M. LEPORE
Despite a successful 2018-
19 season, will St. John’s
basketball think more about
what was left on the table
rather than the undeniable
progress made as we head
toward the postseason?
Heading into their final
game against Xavier on
Sunday, the Johnnies sit at
20-10, with an 8-9 record in
conference play.
That’s good enough
for third in a Big East
conference suffering a
down year, but they’ll likely
need a strong showing in
the Big East Tournament
to ensure their place in the
NCAA Tournament.
There have been some
huge positives this season for
the Red Storm, highlighted
by doing a double over
conference rivals and
16th-ranked Marquette, a
home win over conference
leaders Villanova and
road wins over Creighton
and Georgetown.
That said, the team’s 12-0
start makes them look like a
bit of a paper tiger after the
conference season.
The Big East is a tough
conference even in a bad
year, but losses to bottomfeeding
DePaul and two
losses to Providence have
hurt the team’s resume, in
addition to their blowout
loss at Duke, a team the
Johnnies were able to
beat on their home floor
last season.
There have been
questions since the home
loss to Xavier about the
Red Storm’s ability to deal
with physical teams in
the postseason.
“We know what we have
to do. We just have to do
it,” said head coach Chris
Mullin. “Front to post, bump
cutters, and be physical just
like they are with us. That’s
what it comes down too.
That’s the physical part of
the game, then we can get
to the skilled part. We know
what we have to do to win a
game like this and it’s not
what happened tonight.”
The Johnnies are all
but assured to skip the
opening day of the Big East
Tournament at Madison
Square Garden, but from
there, they’ll likely need
at least one win to assure
themselves of a solid spot in
the NCAA Tournament.
With 20 wins and some
solid scalps taken along the
way, there really shouldn’t
be any worries about a
Johnnies return to March
Madness, but the slides in
conference play should be
cause for concern.
A particularly bad
performance in the
conference tournament,
plus perhaps a surprise
winner in New York next
week, could see St. John’s
really pushed to the bubble,
Ponds celebrates the victory with head coach Chris Mullin. Courtesy of St. John’s Athletics
or perhaps even forced to
play one of the dreaded
“play-in” games on the first
two days of the tourney.
Regardless, St. John’s
should look at this season
as a success.
But they may have great
anxiety over what could’ve
been headed into the
season’s final week.
TOP DOLLAR PAID
S h Aernbtiequees Instant Cash
HELP YOU FIND YOUR POT OF GOLD Est. 1940
LET SHERBEE ANTIQUES’ OVER 60 YEARS EXPERIENCE
������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
���������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������
TIMESLEDGER,TIMESLEDGER.COM MARCH 8-14, 2019 39
/TIMESLEDGER,TIMESLEDGER.COM
