Chris Mullin’s St. John’s Red Storm continues to win in the friendly confines of Queens, with the latest coming against Georgetown.
The road and home have been polar opposites for St. John’s this year.While the Red Storm have struggled mightily on the road, it hasn’t been the case at home and that could be big coming up.
St. John’s won their latest home game, holding off longtime Big East rival Georgetown 86-80. This was their third straight win at Madison Square Garden.
PHOTOS Johnnies picked up third-straight win at @TheGarden with an 86-80 victory over Georgetown #SJUBB GALLERY https://t.co/RuZ6dM8yab pic.twitter.com/8umsfFcvKB
— St. John's BBall (@StJohnsBBall) February 25, 2017
What was impressive about this win was that even though St. John’s blew a 14-point first-half lead and trailed by one at halftime, the Johnnies never folded and was able to hang on for the win, thanks to some key free throws and great defense down the stretch. The Red Storm defense forced 22 Georgetown turnovers.
It wasn’t just this home win. St. John’s has been great at home all year since Big East play started at the end of last December.
It all started with a win over a top 25 team in Butler at Carnesecca Arena. They also had impressive home victories over Seton Hall and Marquette. Even though they lost, they played defending champion Villanova and then No.24 Xavier tough.
St. John’s has been a team to be reckoned with at home and that is huge because the Big East tournament next week will be at Madison Square Garden. Even though St. John’s may be one of the lower seeds, their success at MSG and with a lot of fans supporting them could be a key factor.
The only way St. John’s can reach the NCAA tourney is if they go deep in the Big East tournament and possibly win it all. That is certainly a tough stretch, but considering their success at home, why not? If they played like they did at home all season, they will be very tough to beat.