No. 18/18 Seton Hall Outlasts St. John’s, 82-79

Saturday, January 18

New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)

12 p.m.

St. John's University

12-7,1-5BE

Seton Hall

14-4,6-0BE

Seton Hall

St. John's

1/18/2020 3:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Red Storm trailed by no more than three points against the Pirates at MSG

NEW YORK – Leading the no. 18 team in the nation by 13 points after 20 minutes of action, the St. John's men's basketball team was unable to hold off Seton Hall in the second half, falling to the Pirates, 82-79, at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

Despite the loss, St. John's (12-7, 1-5 BIG EAST) had its best offensive showing of conference play, scoring 79 points and shooting 44 percent from the floor. Seton Hall (14-4, 6-0 BIG EAST) enjoyed a distinct advantage from the charity stripe; however, making 22 of their 27 free throw attempts, including nine of their last 10 down the stretch. St. John's, on the other hand, went just 9-of-15 from line on the afternoon.

Myles Powell scored 23 of his game-high 29 points in the second half, going 9-for-11 from the floor in the latter stanza. The senior guard scored his 2,000^th career point early in the second half and hit five of the Pirates' final six field goals.

Mustapha Heron scored 18 points to lead St. John's, going 6-of-13 from the floor and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc.

LJ Figueroa tallied 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Despite fouling out late in the second half, the junior wing recorded a career-high seven steals to go along with five rebounds and three assists. His seven steals were the most by a player in the BIG EAST this season, passing his own previous high-water mark of six set against Massachusetts on Nov. 24.

Josh Roberts also finished with 16 points, matching a career-high thanks to an 8-for-11 showing from the floor. The sophomore also grabbed eight boards and blocked a shot in 24 minutes of action.

Marcellus Earlington registered nine points while Rasheem Dunn added eight points, four boards and four assists.

St. John's forced 15 Seton Hall turnovers in the first half, 11 of which were the result of Red Storm steals. The Pirates then went the first 13:30 of the second stanza without surrendering a possession and went on to outscore St. John's, 52-36, in the period. The Red Storm recorded 13 steals on the game, marking the team's sixth straight outing with double-digit thefts, the longest active streak in the nation.

Heron displayed a hot hand early, sinking his first two attempts from beyond the arc and helping St. John's jump out to an 8-2 lead three and a half minutes into the action.

With the lead down to a pair, 16-14, at the 10-minute mark of the first half, the Johnnies' defense came to life and fueled an 8-2 Red Storm run, putting St. John's ahead 24-16 just over two minutes later. The Red Storm forced three turnovers in as many possessions during the spurt, turning all of those miscues into buckets on the other end.

Seton Hall pulled within one, 28-27, following a Powell 3-pointer with just under five minutes to play before the Red Storm closed the half on a 15-3 run. Figueroa scored six of those points for the Johnnies, who led 43-30 at the break. Defense once again played a critical role on the run, as the Red Storm forced four turnovers, all of which were steals, during those final four minutes of first-half action.

The Pirates quickly cut into the St. John's advantage early in the second half, using a 13-3 run to pull within one, 54-53, on an Anthony Nelson jumper with 12:41 to go.

Seton Hall tied the game for the first time at 56 on a Romaro Gill free throw at the 10:16 mark and took its first lead of the afternoon, 61-58, on a Powell trey with just over eight minutes remaining.

The lead changed eight times over the next six minutes with neither team leading by more than a point. Seton Hall then moved ahead by two on a Powell three-point play with 1:38 to go before Dunn promptly answered with a bucket of his own to tie the game at 75 seventeen seconds later.

After a 1-for-2 trip to the line for Quincy McKinght, Seton Hall led the rest of the way, as an Earlington 3-pointer at the buzzer missed the marked and secured the Pirates' victory.