Andre Curbelo patted Mike Anderson’s shoulder and smiled.
St. John’s new level guard had been requested what gave him the arrogance to make such large performs with the sport on the road after struggling so mightily for a lot of the first 39 minutes.
“This man proper right here to my left,” he mentioned, referring to the St. John’s coach.
Curbelo was at his greatest when the Johnnies wanted him most, after they blew an eight-point lead within the last 5 minutes and trailed Temple with 75 seconds left within the Empire Traditional on Monday night time. The Illinois switch responded with 5 consecutive factors to ship St. John’s to a gutty 78-72 victory and a spot in Tuesday’s championship recreation in opposition to previous Huge East rival Syracuse at Barclays Middle.
“I had a tricky 12 months final 12 months. I doubted myself at instances, however coming residence, having a terrific coach, nice teaching workers, nice teammates, they encourage me day by day,” mentioned the previous Lengthy Island Lutheran star, who was the Huge Ten Sixth Man of the Yr as a freshman at Illinois however struggled as a sophomore after coping with a serious concussion. “They know what I can do. They know what I can carry to the desk.”
Curbelo’s three-point play with 1:15 left gave St. John’s the lead for good. And after Posh Alexander compelled a turnover, Curbelo scored on one other drive as Anderson’s staff improved to 5-0 on the younger season.
Montez Mathis led St. John’s with 16 factors and put the sport away with two free throws that prolonged the result in 5 with 17 seconds left. Joel Soriano added 15 factors, 12 rebounds and two blocks, and David Jones had 14 factors and 7 rebounds. Curbelo completed with 13 factors, 4 assists, three steals and 6 turnovers. Jamille Reynolds scored 21 factors for Temple (2-3).
It was an odd recreation that swung backwards and forwards. St. John’s held an eight-point lead at three completely different junctures of the second half, however couldn’t put away Temple. That got here after one other gradual begin that noticed the Johnnies path by 25-12 earlier than closing the primary half with a 20-5 run.
Most significantly, they discovered a approach to shut out a recreation. Their struggles in single-digit contests a 12 months in the past was one of many storylines of their irritating season, the Johnnies going 4-9 in video games determined by six factors or much less final winter. Of their first nail-biter this 12 months, St. John’s prevailed.
“It exhibits that we’re getting higher,” Anderson mentioned. “Adversity hit us. We’re away from the confines of Carnesecca Area. I wished to see how we [would] react to it. Temple got here out and hit us within the mouth early on.”
However Anderson’s staff hit again on a number of events. With the sport on the road, Curbelo delivered the knockout punch.
Sophomore guard Rafael Pinzon (sprained proper ankle) didn’t play. He suffered the damage in final Thursday’s win over Nebraska. Senior ahead Esahia Nyiwe was out there, however didn’t play. He had been away from the staff mourning the demise of his brother, Naayian.
Post a Comment