WASHINGTON — St. John’s didn’t just suffer its most excruciating loss of the season Saturday afternoon. The Red Storm didn’t just let their first Big East win slip away.
They fumbled away their best opportunity of the next few weeks.
For the second time in 11 days, St. John’s sustained a devastating defeat to Georgetown, 93-89, in double overtime at Capital One Arena, for its eighth straight loss. The Red Storm (10-10, 0-8) have now gone more than a month without a win, and remain the only winless team in the Big East, having now lost 13 straight games at Georgetown (13-6, 3-5).
St. John’s drought could drag on for some time, with an upcoming gauntlet of Creighton, Butler, No. 11 Xavier, No. 5 Duke, No. 1 Villanova and Marquette.
“This was as extreme as it gets,” coach Chris Mullin said of the loss. “Our guys battled them pretty well. Just another tough ending for us.”
Led by Shamorie Ponds (33 points, eight assists, six rebounds), St. John’s held a seemingly insurmountable lead in the first overtime. After Ponds forced extra time with a game-tying drive, the Red Storm held a five-point lead with 16 seconds remaining.
Then, came the worst of St. John’s recurring late-game struggles.
Kassoum Yakwe fouled Marcus Derrickson (career-high 27 points, 11 rebounds) on a 3-pointer, allowing the Georgetown junior to cut the lead to two. Ponds followed by making just one of two free throws, allowing Derrickson to hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left.
“Ideally, yes, I love to foul in that situation, but not coming out of a timeout, it’s kind of hard to get these guys’ attention on the way up,” Mullin said. “[Foul] earlier, what happens out there, who knows?”
The Red Storm’s lack of depth was a significant factor in the second overtime, with big men Tariq Owens (17 points, three blocks) and Marvin Clark II (15 points) both fouled out. Georgetown opened the session with six straight points, including a four-point play by Jagan Mosely, and never trailed again.
“I think the effort has been there for most of our games,” Mullin said. “Execution has been the thing.”