St. John's faces Seton Hall again needing win to get in NCAA Tournament
St. John's Red Storm guard Jordan Dingle puts up a basket ahead of Georgetown Hoyas guard Dontrez Styles in the second half of an NCAA Big East men’s basketball game at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
St, John’s has been on the high wire for more than three weeks now.
Each time it has taken the floor since the Feb. 18 loss to Seton Hall that gave the Pirates a sweep of the season series, there has been no margin for error. For five straight games, the Red Storm have stared down a hard reality about achieving their goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament: win today or try to beat three top-10 teams and win the Big East Tournament.
Five “must-win” contests. Five victories. And maybe discovering a level of ease in the discomfort on the high wire.
St. John’s (19-12) has covered a bunch of ground in doing it. From ninth place to fifth in the standings. From no place on the NCAA Tournament landscape to “next four out” status. And then to “first four out.” And now, pretty much, to “last four in” according to most “experts.”
One thing hasn’t changed with respect to earning that spot in the field of 68: win today.
No. 5 St. John’s faces No. 4 Seton Hall (20-11) in Thursday’s 2:30 p.m. Big East quarterfinal at the Garden. The Red Storm’s five-game winning streak has stripped away all the complexities.
Win today and a trip to the Big Dance is all but assured.
Lose to the Pirates a third time and the NCAA Tournament hopes get exposed to the elements: the bubble outlier in the power conference that makes a deep run, the mid-major bid thief, the unanticipated metric-damaging upset.
From the outside, the situation looks fraught with pressure. Inside it may be another story. Remember that St. John’s has been playing “must-win” games for weeks. Remember that St. John’s is playing its best basketball of the season and at its highest confidence. Remember that St. John’s plays home games at the Garden.
And, sure, it’s possible the arena will be packed with hostile UConn fans who scarfed up tickets to see the second-ranked Huskies play Xavier. But the Red Storm have been in front of that, too, and nearly pulled a December upset of UConn in Hartford.
“I don’t think there’s any added pressure,” Jordan Dingle said before Tuesday’s practice. “We have known for the past five or six games that we had to win out, so it’s not really anything new. I wouldn’t necessarily call that pressure but, if you want to refer to it as that, I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I think that’s where people really get the chance to rise to the occasion and everybody is going to step up their game.”
Rick Pitino was asked about the pressure and replied, “I love it. It’s the greatest word for any competitor. . . . Pressure to me is your ally, your best friend in life. Stress is your enemy. This is what we live for, these moments.
“We are all under the pressure when you get to this time of year,” he continued. “Pressure makes it fun. We have been under this pressure thing the last [five] games in a row because if we lost any of those, we wouldn’t be on this proverbial [NCAA Tournament] bubble.”
Pitino pointed out that Seton Hall hurt the Storm with deflections, drawing fouls and making free throws. After each game, the players seemed almost embarrassed at how the Pirates were the tougher team.
“[Toughness] is going to be a big thing . . . because they made all the toughness plays down the stretch the past couple of games,” Chris Ledlum said. “We have to continue on as we have the past five games and . . . worry about what we can control. Toughness is one of those things.”
On the high wire, St. John’s has played far better than it had and, now, as Dingle said, “We are playing for our livelihood.”
“This team is capable of winning [in the Big East Tournament] and capable of winning in the NCAA Tournament,” Pitino said. “Would I have said that three weeks ago? Probably not. But they have evolved into what I hoped they would evolve into and that’s really great to see.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.