Eight days later, St. John’s performed another Houdini act.
Down 10 at halftime. Getting thoroughly outplayed. Engine Deivon Smith on the bench in sweats.
But just like they did against Georgetown last Tuesday, the Johnnies staged a furious comeback. It took five extra minutes this time, but No. 20 St. John’s found a way, knocking off Xavier, 79-71 in overtime, at the Garden on Wednesday night for its sixth straight win and 12th victory in 13 games.
The Red Storm scored the first eight points of the extra session — six by Zuby Ejiofor — and remained atop the Big East standings. At 17-3, they now own the school’s best record through 20 games since the 1985-86 team started 18-2.
Kadary Richmond scored a St. John’s career-high 19 points and added seven rebounds and five assists and Simeon Wilcher and Ejiofor had 16 apiece. RJ Luis added 16 points and seven rebounds as the Johnnies rallied from a 16-point, second-half deficit.
After Xavier shredded their fifth-ranked defense in the first half, St. John’s held them to 31 points over the second half and overtime and doubled up the Musketeers in the paint, 48-24.
Down 16 at one point, the Johnnies made a number of charges. A 12-2 burst got them to within eight. A 10-2 run made it a one-point game.
When Richmond scored inside with 3:41, the Johnnies had their first lead since early in the first half. The building, quiet most of the first half and early part of the second, was rocking.
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“Let’s Go Johnnies!” chants blasting off the walls of MSG grew even louder when Luis came up with a steal and scored to push the lead to three.
But Xavier rebounded with five straight points to retake the lead with 2:15 left, Ryan Conwell sinking a deep 3 and Zach Freemantle scoring inside. Richmond answered on the other end, pulling St. John’s even at 65-65 with 1:03 to go in regulation.
The Johnnies had two chances in the final 30 seconds, but they committed a shot clock violation and couldn’t get a clear look at the buzzer.
Ejiofor started overtime with a basket inside and his 3-point play with 2:00 left pushed the lead to eight. On the play, he drew the fifth and final foul on Freemantle.
There wasn’t much to like from a St. John’s perspective over the first 20 minutes. Leading scorers Luis and Ejiofor combined for four points on 2-for-9 shooting. The Johnnies shot 34.4 percent from the field, were even on the glass and didn’t have a single point in transition.
Most of all, their defense was shaky. Xavier shot 50 percent and was getting any shot it wanted, producing 12 assists on 13 made field goals.
A 15-4 run late in the half gave the Musketeers a 14-point edge. St. John’s was fortunate to be down only 10 at the half.
