St. John’s men’s basketball overcomes 20-point deficit, beats Rutgers in wild quadruple overtime exhibition

It seems that St. John’s and Rutgers have no idea how to play a normal scrimmage. In recent years, the old Big East rivals battled in a double-overtime thriller and a shootout with future NBA talent all over the floor. Sunday’s exhibition was even more feverishly chaotic than their last two preseason encounters, and it ended the same way, with the Johnnies surviving in dramatic fashion.

St. John’s rebounded from a disastrous first twenty minutes, erased a huge deficit in an energetic second half, and then endured an extra half to defeat Rutgers at Madison Square Garden, 104-99. The four-overtime gauntlet was the first such preseason or regular-season game in Red Storm men’s basketball history.

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Surprisingly, the team picked second-to-last in the Big Ten preseason poll commanded the game over the two-time defending Big East champions through the first half. Rutgers took a substantial 46-28 lead at halftime, carving up a disjointed St. John’s defense with 56.7% shooting from the field (17-of-30) and controlling the glass by 22-14.

Tariq Francis and Christian Gurdak found their rhythm early, scoring 13 and 12 points, respectively, before the break, while the Red Storm missed bunnies at an alarming rate, whiffing on their last six first-half layup attempts in which they went 11-of-30 from the field.

Whatever Rick Pitino told his team in the locker room would likely be too vulgar to transcribe, but it certainly woke St. John’s up. The Red Storm exploded out to a 30-6 run to open the second half, coming back from a 20-point deficit to take a 58-52 lead. Ian Jackson and Keyshawn Hall were instrumental in getting Johnnies back into the game during this span, each scoring 10 points in the second half and doing most of their damage in this rally. Both finished with a team-high 24 points by the end of the game, and Hall also recorded a double-double with 14 rebounds. Collectively, St. John’s shot 53.6% from the floor in the second half and won the rebounding battle by five…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/st-john-men-basketball-overcomes-225747519.html

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Publish date : 2026-10-18 22:57:00

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