Syracuse Holds Off St. John's to Improve to 10
St. John's showed its vast potential and gave No. 2 Syracuse all it could handle at Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon, but the Orange held on for a 68-63 win to improve to 10-0 this season.
St. John's charged back from a 12-point halftime deficit with an enthusiastic second-half effort, using defensive pressure and much improved shooting to put Syracuse on its heels. The Red Storm's D'Angelo Harrison scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half, and the freshman guard Rysheed Jordan finished with 13 points.
But C. J. Fair and Tyler Ennis, each with 21 points, gave Syracuse enough to sneak away.
St. John's (6-3) was energized for this matchup, the first between the longtime rivals since Syracuse left the Big East Conference and joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in July. St. John's intensified its marketing efforts, emphasizing that it was 'New York's team,' a phrase Syracuse had used in the past.
Last week, Harrison, a junior guard, even declared it the 'biggest game of our careers.' For the Red Storm, trying to establish themselves as legitimate contenders for an N.C.A.A. tournament run, a strong showing against the Orange seemed paramount. They had not beaten Syracuse in eight consecutive matchups.
'This is why some of us came here,' Harrison said before the game. 'We know that Syracuse is a storied program, but so are we. The challenge that we have is great.'
Perhaps they put too much pressure on themselves. They looked tight with their shooting early on, missing their first nine 3-point attempts and making just 34.5 percent of their shots from the field in the first half. The Red Storm fell behind by as many as 14.
Harrison, the team's leading scorer, made one of his first seven shots, but he found a better rhythm in the second half, scoring St. John's first 7 points. Syracuse turned the ball over twice in its first five possessions after halftime.
The Red Storm intensified their ball pressure and did a better job protecting the rim with their length. Their enthusiasm extended to the sidelines: On a Syracuse inbounds play underneath the basket, St. John's pressed so tightly that Coach Steve Lavin leapt from the bench, begging for a five-second call. (He did not get one.)
St. John's went on a 21-9 run to pull even at 53-53 with 9 minutes 16 seconds remaining. A floater by Harrison moments later gave the Red Storm their first lead of the game.
Syracuse retook the lead, 62-60, with 3:59 left, and a Harrison floater from three feet rimmed out. The Orange took advantage with a Jerami Grant jumper at the other end, and Fair made another to push Syracuse's lead to 5 with 90 seconds left.
An errant pass by Red Storm forward Orlando Sanchez essentially sealed the Syracuse victory. A sensational block by Grant on a dunk attempt by JaKarr Sampson in the final seconds put an exclamation point on a gritty Orange win.
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