DURHAM, N.C. – The good news is that St. John’s made it out of New York yesterday. The bad news is the Red Storm have to play Duke today.
Make no mistake about it, regardless of the friendship between St. John’s coach Mike Jarvis and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, regardless of the respect that exists between players such as Elijah Ingram and Chris Duhon, the reeling Red Storm will find no mercy here.
The Blue Devils haven’t forgotten last season’s 72-71 loss to the Johnnies at the Garden.
“It was a tough game,” Duhon told The Post by telephone. “They came ready to play and we didn’t. We thought they would be a pushover because of their record.”
The Red Storm entered last season’s game with a 12-12 mark, having lost four straight and six of their last seven. This year’s squad is 1-3 and coming off an inexplicable 81-64 home loss to Hofstra.
“When Duke came in to us last year that might have been the most potentially dangerous game as far as a season would be concerned,” said Jarvis. “We were banged up. We were on a downward spiral. And we were, just like [today], were expected to get killed.
“But we hung, and hung and hung – put the effort out – and we got lucky,” continued Jarvis. “We got lucky because we put ourselves in a position to be lucky. This is even tougher because we’ re going to Cameron.”
Yes, the game is in Cameron, which no visiting team will mistake for Camelot. The last time the Red Storm played here, Duke dropped a 97-55 hammer on the Johnnies.
The Red Storm used last season’s win to turn around the season. It won nine of its last 10, losing only to Boston College in overtime in the Big East Tournament, and claimed the Postseason NIT. Once again St. John’s needs to find itself against Duke.
“This is their national championship game,” said Duhon. “We don’t want them celebrating on our court.”
Jarvis knows the Blue Devils will protect their house. They are 4-1 and coming off an impressive 72-50 win at Michigan State. Freshman Luol Deng is the latest Duke All-American, but Coach K always has a happy meal of talent.
“No team is perfect, ” said Ingram. “Every team loses, even some of the top teams.”
Duke is not perfect. But there is no reason to believe St. John’s can pull the upset. Prior to last season’s Duke game, Jarvis knew what he had. He tinkered with his lineup, moving Anthony Glover to small forward. The Johnnies took off.
There will likely be lineup changes today. Don’t be surprised if the Red Storm try to go big with Mohamed Diakite and freshman Lamont Hamilton starting up front along with Grady Reynolds.
