For Rick Pitino, there was no better way to get his 900th official career victory.
With the Hall of Fame head coach facing off against his son Richard and his Xavier Musketeers on Saturday afternoon, St. John’s rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit to snatch an 88-83 victory over Cincinnati for its second straight game in a stunning victory.
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St. John’s couldn’t have started better, taking a 20-11 lead behind 11 early points from Ian Jackson, but they quickly ran out of steam as their reserves entered the game, and Xavier stepped up, grabbed the momentum, and held on even with the Red Storm’s starters back, shooting 50 percent from the field and 7 of 14 from 3-point range in the half. The Musketeers ended the first half with Fetty Wapping outscoring the Red Storm by a combined score of 38-17, taking a 12-point lead into the locker room.
The Red Storm’s luck didn’t change after halftime, with the Musketeers extending their lead to 55-39 with 17:05 left in the second half, but the visitors turned around at this point. St. John’s responded with a 16-1 run that nearly erased their deficit. Xavier forward Tre Carroll scored the next 11 points for the Musketeers to maintain the lead, but St. John’s quickly took control and went on a 13-3 run when Carroll went to the bench with 9:09 left. Oziyah Sellers hit an old-school 3-pointer to give St. John’s a 75-70 lead with 6:04 left in the game.
St. John’s upped their game in the second half when their recently assembled three-man frontcourt finally seemed to meet its match. Dillon Mitchell performed steadily throughout the game, scoring a triple-double of 17 points, 7 rebounds and a team-high 6 assists, while also dishing out 4 steals. Bryce Hopkins, who had a forgettable 2-for-10 shooting performance in the first half, scored 14 of his team-high 18 points in the second half and kept Xavier on his heels with a physical performance. Zubie Ejiofor may have been late to the game, but he contributed 13 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks for the Musketeers.
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The two teams continued to trade hay to end the game. With St. John’s leading 79-74 with 2:41 left, Tre Carroll hit a step-back 3-point jumper over Ruben Prey to cut the Red Storm’s lead to two points, the toughest shot of the day for the unguardable senior. Carroll made 12 of 22 shots and 3 of 5 three-pointers, scoring a team-career-high 31 points.
St. John’s needed a player to step up and close out the game against the Musketeers, and their key offense came from an unlikely source. Dylan Darling scored all 11 of his points in the second half, including two clutch baskets that gave the Johnnies the lead each time.
Dahlin responded to Malik Messina Moore’s game-tying layup with a finger roll of his own with 1:20 left in the game. Filip Borovicanin’s layup gave Xavier an 82-81 lead and pushed the Red Storm to the edge. Darling froze Messina-Moore with a crossover pass and drained a step-back 3-pointer with 53 seconds left that clinched the game for St. John’s. After the game, Rick Pitino said Dahlin’s late-life heroics “emboldened him like church bells.”
St. John’s denied Xavier’s last chance to respond, forcing Trey Carroll to fumble on the next possession to prove he wasn’t invincible, and Reuben Pree iced the game with a tip-in layup with 15 seconds left to give the Red Storm an 86-82 lead.
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Rick Pitino’s road to No. 1,000 begins Wednesday, January 28, when St. John’s takes on the Butler Bulldogs at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m., Peacock Field).
