St. John's handed Syracuse its worst loss in the 36-year history of the Carrier Dome, after the Red Storm overpowered the Orangemen (excuuuse me, the Orange) 93-60 on the famed court.
Wednesday night's 33-point win marked the second largest victory by St. John's over Syracuse and was the first time that a Jim Boeheim-coached team has lost five non-conference games in the regular season.
Syracuse fans even booed their beloved Orange off the court before it was all over after Boeheim waved the white flag and emptied his bench with almost three minutes to go.
Wednesday night's 33-point win marked the second largest victory by St. John's over Syracuse and was the first time that a Jim Boeheim-coached team has lost five non-conference games in the regular season.
Syracuse fans even booed their beloved Orange off the court before it was all over after Boeheim waved the white flag and emptied his bench with almost three minutes to go.
Three St. John’s players scored in double figures, the Red Storm scored 32 points on 19 Syracuse turnovers and outscored the Orange 36-12 from beyond the arc in overwhelming their former Big East rivals. But not before the game turned into lob city for the Storm.
“I didn’t get them ready to do what they needed to do. We just didn’t execute on defense or offense. St. John’s did. That was the game,” Boeheim said. “This is on me, not the players.”It was lob city in the Carrier Dome tonight! Full highlights on the St. John's Red Storm YouTube page! #SJUBB #WeAreNewYorksTeam pic.twitter.com/R4sOJEFMDi— St. John's BBall (@StJohnsBBall) December 22, 2016
Syracuse’s previous worst loss at the Dome was by 24 points against Seton Hall in 1998.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak and was the third straight for St. John’s (6-7) over Syracuse (7-5) in three years.
St. John’s coach Chris Mullin was at a loss to explain his team’s dominating performance.
“I really can’t explain it, especially with the game we’re coming off (a 92-76 loss against Penn State). We’ve been up and down. The one thing about our team is that we’re young, we’re inexperienced,” said Mullin. “When you get effort and energy and share the ball, and do the right things, at some point things will work.”
The game was tied at 14 with 12:17 to go in the first half. From that point on, the Red Storm outscored Syracuse 79-46 — 54-31 in the second half. Syracuse climbed to within six early in the second half on six straight points from Dajuan Coleman, but St. John’s answered with six and ran away after that.
Shamorie Ponds led St. John’s with 21 points. Bashir Ahmed added 20 points and Malik Ellison 16.
Shamorie Ponds led St. John’s with 21 points. Bashir Ahmed added 20 points and Malik Ellison 16.
Ellison scored eight straight points on two 3-pointers and put-back to tie the game at 12. The game was tied at 14 when the Red Storm went on a 19-4 run to take a 33-18 lead. The Red Storm hit four consecutive 3-pointers in a span of 1:36 during the run. St. John’s held a 39-29 halftime lead.
