Looking at the bottom line on ESPN, I noticed a 66-45 score in the St. John’s vs. Duke game with a little less then eight minutes left in the game. The scored didn’t surprise me, but the fact that St. John’s was the one that held the lead made me scramble to find my remote and turn to CBS. 

Growing up in the New Jersey/New York area, it always puts a huge smile on my face when local schools make national noise. Ever since the Fran Fraschilla and Mike Jarvis days, Red Storm fans all over have been praying for a day like this to come. 

The Johnnies were led by Dwight Hardy who scored 26 points in the 93-78 win. But, looking back at the game it wasn’t that St. John’s beat the Blue Devils that opened the eyes of college basketball fans, it was how it happened.

The Red Storm controlled the entire first half, taking a 46-25 lead at the break. Duke, who came into the game shooting 40 percent from three point range, went into the half shooting one for 13 behind the arc. From the floor the Johnnies held Duke to 29.6 percent (8 of 27) in the first half.

How did the St. Johns do it? Using a three-quarter court trap helped force the Blue Devils into low percentage passes and silly offensive miscues. Duke finished the game shooting just five of 26 from three point range and committed 17 turnovers.

While Hardy was the leading scorer for the Johnnies, he was not the only standout as, Justin Brownlee had 20 points and Paris Horne added 15 points. The win came in front of a sellout crowd of 19,353 at Madison Square Garden. The great win pushes St. John’s to 12-8 while Duke now stands at 19-2, great job Coach Lavin!

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