St. John’s Drops Big East Tournament Opener, Closes Out Tough Season

St. John’s rode their freshman starters and thin bench all the way until the end and they gave it a good fight but came up short in their first round game of the Big East tournament, dropping 73-59 at the hands of the Pittsburgh Panthers.

Pittsburgh has had a difficult season just like the Johnnies, but they have been known to show up when postseason play begins. Senior Ashton Gibbs scored 20 points to make sure that this was not his last game in a Panther uniform. Their next matchup will be challenging as they take on #5 Georgetown. That game is scheduled for 2:00.

Gibbs scored the first seven points in a 13-2 rally that gave Pitt the lead at halftime. Less than five minutes into the second half, Pittsburgh opened up a 43-32 lead, and never let St. John’s get closer than nine for the remainder of the game.

Moe Harkless led the way with 25 points for the #12 seeded Red Storm. D’Angelo Harrison recorded a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 boards and God’sgift Achiuwa had a career-high 12 rebounds to help clean the glass.

St. John’s as a team was only able to shoot 33% from the field, including 2-11 from behind the arc. This was their 12th game this season with their all-freshman lineup and dropped to 5-7 in those games. It was also the first time in four years that the Red Storm was unable to get a victory in their opening game of the Big East tournament.

So the 2011-2012 ends with a fairly disappointing 13-19 record after their trip to the NCAA tournament last season. There is a bright future for this young club as they should be returning a good amount of their players from this season. Using this year as a learning experience for these young men, a promising future is in sight.