St. John’s Storms Past Providence, 91-67
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Winning eleven games in the first half of the season certainly is an impressive number. But winning games in the Big East Conference is an entirely different matter.
Behind two very talented freshmen in 6-8 forward Moe Harkless and 6-3 guard D’Angelo Harrison, St. John’s stormed past the Providence Friars 91-67 in the first game of the Big East Conference season for 2011-12.
After scoring the first basket of the game, it was all downhill from there for the Friars. The Red Storm immediately charged out to a lead with a 19-4 run, thanks in large part to eight early turnovers by PC. While some errors may have been unforced, the Friars had trouble with St. John’s zone defense in the opening half, and their length on the wings and in the corners created several of the PC mistakes.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAnd while Providence had trouble hanging onto the ball, the Red Storm connected from just about everywhere on the floor, adding to their problems. Not really known for their outside shooting abilities, SJU connected on open three’s with PC falling back into a zone early, and when the Friars tried to extend their defense out to the perimeter, the Red Storm players easily penetrated, getting into the lane and scoring almost at will inside.
The result? At the end of the first half, SJU had scored more points against Providence than any other team had scored in a half this season – 47 – and PC trailed 47-31 at the break.
The second half briefly started better for the Friars, as two quick baskets from Vincent Council narrowed the gap to 12 points. But then Harkless (career high 32 points, with 13 rebounds, and Harrison (18 first half points, a career high 25 for the game) put together quick points in transition, continually beating the PC defense up the floor at their own game.
With the score at 47-35, SJU ran off a 19-10 spurt to open up a 21 point advantage at 66-45, rendering the final 10 minutes of the game meaningless. The Friars could never get closer than 17 the rest of the way.
Harkless (Queens, NY) and Harrison (Missouri City, TX) combined for 57 of the 91 Red Storm points, connecting on 22-29 from the floor, 9-11 from the free throw line, and 4-8 from three point range. The way they played, there may not be two better freshmen on the same team anywhere else in the country this season. PC simply had no answers for their game…or anyone else’s on this night.
Friar Notes
Moe Harkless' 32 points sets a Big East record for most points scored in a freshman debut, breaking the record of 30 scored by Notre Dame's Troy Murphy in 1998, and Georgetown's Allen Iverson in 1994...the 91 points scored by St. John’s were the most allowed by PC this season, and the 35 field goals allowed by the Friar defense were also the most allowed so far this year…Providence turned the ball over 20 times (which the Red Storm converted for 34 points), which tied for the most this season…SJU connected on a season high 56% of their shots from the floor, 82% from the line (2nd best mark this season) and hit a season-high seven three point baskets…the Friars were led by Gerard Coleman’s 20 points (he also had eight rebounds), while freshman LaDontae Henton finished with 15 points and a team-best nine rebounds. Council was the only other Friar in double figures with 11, and he committed a season high seven turnovers…PC shot 48% from the floor, but shot just 3-15 from outside the arc. Providence has hit just nine of their last 43 attempts from three point range over the last four games…The Friars did win the rebounding battle (34-28), but the slight advantage never really allowed them to get out and run in transition as they normally try to do…the game was the 99th meeting all time for the two rivals, with SJU now holding a 57-42 advantage…St. John’s has the youngest team in its 104-year history of playing varsity basketball, starting the season with 10 true freshmen and only one returning player from last season (guard Malik Stith) on the roster…the Red Storm recruiting class, featuring Harkless and Harrison, was one of the most highly rated in the country coming into the season…the Friars, who now must face nationally-ranked Georgetown on the road this Saturday afternoon (2:00 pm, 103.7 WEEI-FM, www.friars.com), are 4-29 all time in Big East road openers…SJU head coach Steve Lavin did not coach during the game, as he continues to recover from off-season prostate cancer surgery. The team was led by assistants Mike Dunlap, and former Purdue coach Gene Keady…the game at St. John’s Carnesecca Arena on campus also marked the 10th time in the past 12 years for the Friars to open Big East play on the road…Providence is now 11-3 overall on the season (0-1 Big East) while St. John’s improves to 7-5 (1-0 Big East)…
