Jared Bynum stood deep on the left wing Tuesday niꦍght as the crowd roared at full throat.
St. John’s had a one-point lead, and all the momentum, with just over three minutes left versus No. 15 Providence. Posh Alexander had taken over again for the Red Sto✃rm, getting to wherever he wanted to on the floor.
The shot clock was winding down and Bynum rose up. The guard launched a 3-pointer from what felt like Union Turnpikeಞ. It hit nothing but net. The largest Carnesecca Arena crowd of the season went silent, as if the fans knew that was it.
And it 🍷was, as the Red Storm didn’t have an answer for Bynum’s shot. Three turnovers followed and a gut-punch of an 86-82 loss to the Friars was the result, another maddening defeat in a season full of them. It was just the latest example that this St. John’s season will be like so many othersꦑ: Full of disappointment.
“We’re almost, but yoܫu can’t keep being almost,” coach Mike Anderson said after his team lost for the sixth time in eight games. “We got to make that step to get over the hump. … Trust m♔e, no one feels worse when we lose a game than myself. I put pressure on myself, and our guys as well.”
This season was suppos💝ed to be different. St. John’s was deeper and bigger and was returning two all-league players: Alexander and Julian Champagnie. The NCAA Tournament was the expectation. A realistic goal was a tournament win for the first since 2000.
That feels like a fantasy now.
Through 20 games, S📖t. John’s (11-9) is barely over .500. The Red Storm are 3-6 in the Big East and 3-9 against power-conference opponents. Anderson’s streak of 19 seasons of .500 or better is very much in doubt.
Tuesday was🎐 like so many other nights in what is looking more and more like a lost season, when the Red Storm’s best just isn’t good enough. When little things — poor free-throw shooting, lack of timely defensive rebounding and ill-timed turnovers — 🌟prevent them from beating a quality opponent. Four losses by six points or fewer, not counting the overtime setback at Connecticut on Jan. 12, when one defensive stop (or defensive rebound) at the end of regulation would’ve produced a massive win.
“It’s just bad decision-m⭕aܫking we make down the line,” said Alexander, who was brilliant against the Friars, notching 29 points, 12 assists and five rebounds.
It was more of the same against Providence (19-2, 9-1). After St.𓆏 John’s went ahead on 🍨an Alexander basket with 3:34 to go, three consecutive turnovers took the air out of the building. Champagnie, still in the midst of a deep shooting slump with his fourth consecutive single-digit scoring effort, couldn’t handle a pass by the sideline. Alexander threw a ball away. Esahia Nyiwe committed a moving screen. St. John’s couldn’t get stops on the other end, as Providence executed on the other end.
Then there was the free-throw line and the brutal finish to the 👍first half. St. John’s was 4-for-11 in the game from the charity stripe, a season-long problem. Providence hit 27 of its 33 free-throw attempts, including four in a row by Al Durham i🍬n the final 11.8 seconds to ice the victory.
“We always talk about: It’s the little things that add up to winning,” And🎃erson said.
At the end of the opening half, the Red Storm were down five and had possession with 6.2 seconds left. But a turnover on an inbound pass, and a poor decision by Alexander — he fouled Bynum attempting a 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds to go — led to an eight-point deficit at the break. It was reminiscent🃏 of the narrow home loss at the Garden to Seton Hall, when a turnover led to a made 3-pointer at the buzzer.
“The worst-case s𓂃cenario you should go in down five,” Anderson said. “We didn’t do a good job of getting the ball in. … We had the play to get the ball in. Not only that, we had timeouts.”
There have been so many what-ifs — not just Tuesday night🎀, but all season, which has been unfolding the same as so many others over the last two decades.