Eight days later, St. John’s performed another Houdini act.
Down 10 at halftime. Getting thoroughly outplayed. Its engine, Deivon Smith, was on the bench in sweats, out with a shoulder injury.
But just like against Georgetown last Tuesday, the Johnnies staged a furious comeback. It took five extra minutes this time, but No. 20 St. John’s found a way, knocking off Xavier 79-71 in overtime and in front of a lively 14,545 at the Garden on Wednesday night for its sixth straight win and 12th victory in 13 games.
The Red Storm scored the first eight points of the extra session — six by Zuby Ejiofor — and remained atop the Big East standings.
At 17-3, they now own the school’s best record through 20 games since the 1989-90 team started with an identical record.
The Johnnies have now won three different times when trailing by 15 points in a game.
“We cannot take losses, it’s a non-negotiable thing for us, and that’s the attitude we have, and that’s why we come back,” coach Rick Pitino said. “I think these guys have a great fear of losing, a great fear, and that’s a good thing.
“A lot of teams when they get down 16, really hang their heads. It’s just the opposite with these guys, and that goes back to they have a fear of losing, and they dig in. When the game was on the line and we had to dig in, we made every great defensive play, which we didn’t do in the first 28 minutes.”
Kadary Richmond scored a St. John’s career-high 19 points and added seven rebounds, five assists and three steals, and Simeon Wilcher and Ejiofor also had 16 apiece.
RJ Luis added 16 points and seven rebounds as the Johnnies rallied from a 16-point, second-half deficit.
Xavier scored 52 points in the first 24:52 of game action, but was held to 18 over the final 20:18.
“Their pressure broke us,” Musketeers coach Sean Miller said.
CHECK OUT THE LATEST BIG EAST STANDINGS AND ST. JOHN’S STATS
Down 16 at one point, St. John’s (17-3, 8-1) made a number of charges. A 12-2 burst got them to within eight. A 10-2 run made it a one point game.
When Richmond scored inside with 3:41, the Johnnies had their first lead since early in the first half. The building, quiet most of the first half and early part of the second, was rocking.
“Let’s Go Johnnies!” chants blasting off the walls of MSG grew even louder when Luis came up with a steal and scored to push the lead to three.
But Xavier (12-8, 4-5) rebounded with five straight points to retake the lead with 2:15 left, Ryan Conwell sinking a deep 3 and Xavier star Zach Freemantle scoring inside.
Richmond answered on the other end, pulling St. John’s even at 65-65 with 1:03 to go in regulation.
Ejiofor started overtime with a basket inside and his 3-point play with 2:00 left pushed the lead to eight. On the play, he drew the fifth and final foul on Freemantle.
The emerging big man scored 12 points after halftime, and limited Freemantle to four.
“I’m a sore loser. I never want to lose any games. I feel like it’s been a constant thing all year where I kind of start off slow in the first half, so I got to figure that out,” Ejiofor said. “But I think my motor keeps me going. [I have a] will and desire to win and not let my teammates down, and everybody played collective basketball in the second half.”
It has been the story of this season so far for the Johnnies.
They find ways to win even when shorthanded, when shots don’t fall, when it looks like a loss is inevitable.
The fans are starting to notice. Nearly 15,000 braved frigid weather to fill up the Garden on Wednesday night.
“We got it rolling right now, and winning does that,” Pitino said. “Look, this is New York, it’s all about winning in New York. If you win, they’re going to show up, and we know that. We’re winning right now, we’re bringing St. John’s back to where it needs to be. It’s a shame Lou [Carnesecca] is not alive. He would be very proud of this team the way they fight.”
