Jan 3rd -- MSG, New York, New York
With all due respect to the Amar'e Stoudemire MSG Revival Tour, the Knicks aren't the only ones electrifying the Garden these days. The Garden sizzled like it was 1985 when the #13 Georgetown Hoyas came to New York to tussle with St. John's. No offense to Ron-Ron, but it's been nearly two decades since the classic Hoya/Johnnie matchup felt like it did tonight. Since the great Lou Carnesecca resigned St. John's has been searching for someone to bring back the magic. It looks like they finally found him.
A few weeks ago one would have been hard pressed to predict this outcome. The Johnnies suffered a few disturbing early losses; at St. Mary's was excusable, but back-to-back losses to Fordham and St. Bonneventure would get A-10 coaches on the hot seat, let alone Big East coaches. It appeared that Lavin wasn't the "quick-fix" their fan base was hoping for. What a difference a few weeks make.
Once Big East play heated up, it sure didn't long for Steve Lavin to bring some magic back to the Mecca.
At 3-0 in BEast play with wins over Georgetown and at West Virginia (five straight overall with a convincing win over Northwestern as well) they have sufficiently erased the sting of an early two-game disaster.
However, as is frequently the case in BEast play, there is little time to stand and admire the progress. The next seven games are a brutal stretch that will go a long way to determining if St. John's is truly tourney-ready. Tomorrow, it's right back to the practice court, scheming up way to tackle Notre Dame, Louisville, Cincinnati and Duke. But for tonight, Lavin and company get to enjoy something that has long been absent, the bright lights on the biggest basketball stage in the world with a smile.
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