Blazing, Burying the Blue

The defending national champs were curtailed by a rising Red Storm squad at Madison Square Garden Sunday. Third-ranked Duke was throttled by St. John’s 93-78 in an upset loss on the road. Sunday was only the second loss of the season for the Blue Devils, who trailed 46-25 at halftime. The Johnnies overpowered Duke in front of a sellout crowd. St. John’s defeated the top-ranked Devils after losing five of their last six contests going into Sunday’s showdown. The Storm has taken some heavy punches and double digit losses to top 25 teams, but not this time. Duke’s poor shooting combined with the Storms’ Dwight Hardy’s big game made winners of the home team. St. John’s improved to 12-8 on the season in what could be considered Steve Lavin’s biggest high profile win so far as the Red Storm’s head coach.
Hardy shot 9-of-13 from the field and finished with 26 points to lead the Johnnies. Duke struggled from the arc, missing on 21 three-point attempts during the game. The Devils made just one 3-pointer in the first half and missed ten consecutive attempts. Nolan Smith tallied a game high 32 points and drained a pair from downtown for Duke. Kyle Singler put up 20 points for the Blue Devils, who turned the ball over 17 times and were limited to inside shooting. St. John’s played conservatively in the second half, clinging to a sizable lead at the break. The rumbling Red Storm shot 12 percentage points above their season average in the first half.
Justin Brownlee tallied 20 points and had nine rebounds for the Storm. Brownlee and Paris Horne’s six assists tied for the team lead. Sean Evans played his best game as a Johnnie, burying ten buckets off the bench in 11 minutes. The Storm took advantage of every Duke turnover, turning them into points of their own. The Johnnies stormed out of the halftime break to take their stunning largest lead of the day. D.J. Kennedy’s dunk was followed by a Hardy layup as the defending Devils looked uncomfortable at the Garden. The Devils did come back to score 53 points to the Storm’s 47 in the second half. But it wasn’t enough to overcome a dismal start. The Storm attacked Duke and found the open shots to erupt on the floor.

Parting Points: Happy Birthday to The Ryan Express