One year ago, St. John’s experienced a deflating trip in The Bahamas that consisted of a heartbreaking loss to a Big 12 power in which they didn’t deserve to lose, and a maddening defeat against an SEC
team in a game they absolutely deserved to lose. The same story played out at the Players’ Era Festival in Las Vegas this week, with the Johnnies falling to Auburn by a score of 85-74 after once holding an 11-point halftime lead.
The energy that was visible against Baylor was strangely absent at the start of the game. St. John’s shot 4-of-12 from the field and gave up six turnovers. Auburn took advantage of their drowsy play, slicing up the Johnnies inside by scoring 18 of their first 23 points in the paint without much resistance.
With St. John’s in desperate need of a spark, their captains rose to the moment. Zuby Ejiofor carried the offense during their cold start and overmatched Auburn’s bigs, scoring 17 of his 24 points in the first half and nailing his first three-pointer since the Alabama game right before the halftime buzzer.
Momentum clearly shifted the moment Sadiku Ibine Ayo entered the game with 7:30 remaining and St. John’s trailing by four. The senior wing drilled a corner three to tie the game at 27, then dove on the floor to secure his second steal in a ninety-second window. Ayo led all players with a plus-minus of +13 in the first half and spearheaded a 19-5 run that gave St. John’s a nine-point halftime lead.
St. John’s grew that lead to eleven points early in the second half, but began losing steam by the midway point in the half. The Johnnies shot 34.5% from the field and 26.7% from three (4-of-15) in the second half.
As the Johnnies’ offense began freezing, Auburn made the slow climb back into the game. Keyshawn Hall finally leveled the game at 61 with a pair of free throws with 8:17 remaining, then the Tigers overtook St. John’s when Tahaad Pettiford scored 12 straight points against a hobbled Dylan Darling to give Auburn a 75-69 lead with 3:44 remaining. The New Jersey native finished with a team-high 27 points for the Tigers.
Keshawn Murphy buried the Johnnies for good with a wide-open three from the top of the key with a little over two minutes remaining to give the Tigers a 79-70 edge.
With the loss, St. John’s is 0-4 against SEC opponents and 0-3 against ranked non-conference teams under Rick Pitino and will most likely become unranked in next Monday’s AP Top 25 poll.
St. John’s will have an 11-day break before they face another SEC opponent in the Ole Miss Rebels (5-1) at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, December 6. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on FOX.
