By Jonathan Lidskin
On Thursday, college basketball kicked off one of the best stretches of the year: Feast Week. A 10-day period where we get many multi-team events that include (and I can’t state this enough) so much basketball,
Well, despite getting notable day basketball for the first time since the start of the season, we got one of this season’s bangers at night. Baylor and St. John’s gave us a lot of good, some bad, some ugly and some chaos. It took two extra five-minute periods before Jeremy Roach settled it on a three-point shot at the buzzer to win it for the Bears by a score of 99-98. However, what got us there embodied the theme of the night and ultimately why St. John’s lost the game: free throws.
You know what they say, folks. “Free throws are free”. Zuby Ejiofor missed a pair that allowed Roach to take the game-winning attempt, but the Johnnies finished the night at the line just 16-28. You’re going to have trouble beating high-level competition when you shoot like that at the charity stripe.
St. John’s and Baylor had some bright spots throughout the game though. The Johnnies led 44-30 at the half and were relentlessly attacking the rim against Baylor’s no-middle defense. This was encouraging as St. John’s is expected to be a rim-pressure team. Scott Drew’s group turned on the gas in the second half though and clawed their way back into it before surrendering late leads in regulation and single OT.
We didn’t leave without controversy though as after the game, Rick Pitino called the refs going to the monitor before Ejiofor’s free throws “highly unethical”. There was also an issue with the clock and whether it started on time off of Ejiofor’s second miss. Whether it did or didn’t we may never know as the on-screen clock is not the same as the in-stadium clock.
Regardless, Baylor moved on and will play Tennessee tonight in the Championship Game while St. John’s gets a crack at Ron Sanchez’s Virginia team in the third-place game. I came away from last night feeling good about both Baylor and St. John’s making the NCAA Tournament, but I still don’t have a great grasp on how good each team could end up being.
Friday’s Games to Watch:
Utah State vs. Iowa, 8:00 p.m. EST, BTN
Texas vs St. Joe’s, 9:00 p.m. EST, ESPNU
Baylor vs. Tennessee, 9:30 p.m. EST, CBSSN
Duke @ Arizona, 10:30 p.m. EST, ESPN2