NY sports history: Feb. 26, 2000
THIS DAY IN NY SPORTS HISTORY
Saturday, Feb. 26, 2000
St. John's beats Duke at Cameron
St. John's defeated second-ranked Duke, 83-82, before the normal raucous crowd at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C. Marvis (Bootsy) Thornton led the Red Storm with 22 points, making 9 of 17 shots, including 4 of 6 three-point attempts. He also had 11 rebounds and six assists. Lavor Postell added 16 points and Erick Barkley added 14 points with 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Carlos Boozer led Duke with 21 points. The win made the Red Storm the first team in NCAA history to defeat the national champion and runnerup from the previous season. St. John's defeated Connecticut, 79-64, six days earlier. Connecticut had defeated Duke, 77-74, in the 1999 NCAA Final. St. John's victory was its seventh straight and 20th of the season and earned the 18th spot in the Associated Press rankings two days later after being unranked the month of February. The Red Storm would win the Big East Conference Tournament at Madison Square Garden, defeating Connecticut, 80-70, in the final March 11. They were eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, 82-76, by Gonzaga. Four players averaged in double figures in the 1999-2000 season for St. John's: Barkley (16.0), Thornton (15.3), Postell (14.3) and Anthony Glover (10.2).
