By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo: St John’s Athletics
Kadary Richmond saves the St. Johns Red Storm from catastrophe when he hits the game-winning midrange jump shot to win the game with 3.0 seconds left to give the team a 68-66 win over Providence Friars on Saturday.
The Jonnies jumped early with a 6-0 lead, then the Friars woke up and went on a 14-2 run. The Johnnies stopped their momentum by knocking down a few threes and played outstanding defense.
Red Storm led 25-21 by halftime.
The story was much more compelling in the second half. The Red Storm scored as many as 19 points. They were doing everything right until the last seven minutes of the game.
The Friars sparked a comeback. It was unbelievable how everything unraveled for the Red Storm. There were silly turnovers and a lousy defense, and they took their foot off the gas and didn’t give the Friars enough respect. The Friars made them pay.
Red Storm should’ve never allowed the Friars to get close to them. The team didn’t close well in the three-point well. The Johnnies backed up too much from defending the three-point line. The Friars had too many good open looks.
After Richmond hit the big shot to put the Johnnies up 68-66, the Friars tried to attempt a game-winning three but missed at the buzzer.
“We played good defense in the first half,” Kadary Richmond said. “But in the second half, the last six or seven minutes wasn’t St John’s basketball.”
Coach Rick Pitino wasn’t too happy with his team’s performance in the second half. He’s happy with their win, but he expected more from their defense.
“I don’t think my guys understand me,” Pitino said. “I’m really unhappy with them because that was a losing, not effort; that was a losing way to play the defense at the end of the game.”
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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