ST. JOHN'S UPSETS NOTRE DAME IN THE GARDEN

January 3, 2009


by Ray Floriani


NEW YORK CITY - Make no mistake, St. John’s 71-65 victory over tenth ranked Notre Dame was decided on the Madison Square Garden floor. The seeds of this victory though, were sown in the film room, coach’s offices and meeting areas on the St. John’s campus in Queens.

* One of the first things St. John’s coach Norm Roberts did following a twenty one point Near Year’s Eve loss at Providence was to call a team meeting. Roberts simply stressed that his tem had ‘to lay it all on the line’. something they did not do at Providence. Roberts also addressed each individual to remind them of their specific role.

* In studying Notre Dame tapes, Roberts and his staff noted that Luke Harangody, the Irish low post threat, is a prolific passer out of a defensive double team. “We decided to play Harangody one on one ,” Roberts said. “We didn’t want to double him and give up wide open looks on the perimeter and let them shoot threes.”

During the contest St. John’s showed great resiliency. They had the ball and a chance to make it a two possession game with seconds left in the first half. A turnover answered by a Harangody lay in at the buzzer cut the lead to one at the break.

In the second half St. John’s built a seven point lead with just under ten minutes to play. Notre Dame responded with a 7-0 run. The Red Storm, never surrendered the lead, dug in and regrouped. In the stretch St. John’s made the plays to seal the verdict.

“Today we got a great win over one of the best teams in the country,” said D.J. Kennedy of St. John’s “It was a 40 minute effort and everyone contributed.” A 6-6 sophomore forward Kennedy led the way with 20 points 10 boards. St. John’s had four players in double figures. Other Storm notables were…

* Justin Burrell with 18 points and some tough defense on Harangody to make him earn everything he got.

* Paris Horne, a 14 point scorer who defended exceptionally well on the perimeter forcing ND’s Kyle McAlarney into a 10 point (4 of 12 night).

* Rob Thomas with 10 points 5 rebounds off the bench.

Harangody did some damage leading the way with 28 points on 12 of 24 shooting. No one else could step up for Mike Brey’s club as the Irish shot 4 of 17 from three. “Give their defense a lot of credit,” Brey said. ’They were aware of hugging (locating) our shooters.”

St. John’s played mostly man to man but Roberts did a nice job of occasionally throwing in a zone or 2-2-1 pressure for a few possessions to keep the Irish off balance.

Attendance was 9,807, a good percentage ND fans. Legendary coach Lou Carnesecca visited the Storm locker room following the game. ND is 10-3 and St. John’s is 10-4. Both are 1-1 in the Big East.