There are only so many mid-majors that St. John’s can schedule.
After four straight home games all resulted in less than impressive wins against lesser competition, St. John’s stumbled for the second time this season when presented with a challenge from a major conference.
The Red Storm rallied from a 15-point, second-half deficit, but ultimately fell in overtime, 89-82, to Penn State on Friday night at Barclays Center.
Unlike the season-opening loss against Wisconsin, the Red Storm were not exactly playing the Big Ten’s best, but coach Steve Lavin’s outlook after the game still focused on the impressive final 10 minutes of regulation, and ignored the inconsistencies that made the massive comeback necessary.
“This is clearly the best we’ve played all season, but we’re also stepping up in class,” Lavin said. “There’s a smaller margin for error, that’s what we find out today. Sometimes you actually play better in a game, but you lose. That’s counterintuitive, but sometimes you make progress or you find something in a loss that you don’t when you’re blowing out a patsy or sneaking by a team that’s inferior.”
Down by one, but needing to foul, the comeback essentially ended after little-used Max Hooper clotheslined Penn State’s Tim Frazier and was called for a flagrant foul with 22.3 seconds left. Frazier, who hit 17-of-20 free throws (13-of-13 in the final seconds of regulation and overtime) and scored a game-high 29 points, made both free throws and two ensuing ones for a five-point lead.
“I was trying to take the foul and I feel like we were two trains traveling in opposite directions,” Hooper said. “I reached for the ball and then the momentum carried me, I guess.”
The Red Storm (4-2) took their first lead of the second half, 73-72, on a floater by D’Angelo Harrison (20 points) with 47.5 seconds left. Then, leading by two, JaKarr Sampson bit on a fake from Frazier, fouling him on a 3-pointer with 6.1 seconds left.
Frazier hit all three, giving Penn State a 75-74 lead, but Harrison raced down the court and drew a foul with two seconds left. The Red Storm’s leading-scorer missed the first free-throw, but hit the second to send it to overtime.
“We’re one stop, one free throw, one basket away from winning the game,” said Lavin. “It’s a tough way to lose.”
Penn State (6-1) had taken its biggest lead, 62-47, midway through the second half, but Hooper’s hot hand kept St. John’s close throughout.
After playing a total of 27 minutes in the previous five games, Hooper erupted for five 3-pointers in 26 minutes, while Phil Greene IV scored 11 of his 14 points in a 20-5 run to tie the game with less than three minutes left. Harrison’s four-point play tied the game again with 1:26 remaining.
“I think it started to open things up for people on the floor because when you have a shooter on the floor, you have to attack the shooter at all times,” Hooper said. “I feel like Phil and D’Angelo were able to get some driving lanes. I came in, I was ready to go, locked and loaded, and I feel like that was a big momentum shift in this game.”
St. John’s got another great defensive effort from Chris Obekpa, who had seven blocks and 13 rebounds, while the season-long struggles from outside halted — at least temporarily — with the team making 11-of-20 3-point tries.
The Red Storm showed balance offensively, along with great ball movement, but sent the Nittany Lions to the line 38 times in the game, helping create a 42-35 halftime deficit.
St. John’s will meet Georgia Tech in the consolation game of the Barclays Center Classic on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets lost 77-67 to Ole Miss in the earlier game.