Hall Upsets St. John’s; Lavin Tossed

by David Cassilo / @dcassilo

After six straight Big East victories St. John’s finally tripped up with a loss to Seton Hall on Thursday, 84-70. The Pirates used a 14-2 run to close the game, during which Steve Lavin was ejected after his second technical foul.

Both team’s star showed up for the game as Dwight Hardy finished with 23 points for the Red Storm and Jeremy Hazell poured in 31 points for the Pirates. The difference, though, was a career-high 19 points from Seton Hall freshman guard Fuquan Edwin. Meanwhile, the other four starters in St. John’s’ lineup made just eight shots.

However, it was a bench player that made headlines late in the game when the Red Storm’s Justin Burrell was ejected for a hard foul on Alani Okoloji.

From the New York Daily News:

“It’s just the rivalry,” St. John’s Justin Brownlee said. “Frustrations build up and some things that happened should not have – the flagrant foul maybe should not have happened – but we always protect our baskets and we weren’t going to let any easy baskets.”

Said a somewhat contrite Lavin: “You’re coming down the homestretch and there’s a lot at stake and so you’re going to have spirited contests – and I’m not proud of my conduct. I’ve made thousands of mistakes in my career and I’m sure I’ll make a thousand more . . . but this was a poor display.”

Barring a Syracuse loss to DePaul, the Red Storm blew its chance at a double-bye in the Big East tournament with Thursday’s loss. Still, a win at home against South Florida will lock up at least the No. 5 seed, an impressive accomplishment from a team no one thought much of back in November.