St. John's Drops Big East Battle To DePaul, 60-54
BY DAN MILLER

The game's leading scorer, St. John's freshman forward Justin Burrell, goes up for a score in a loss to Big East rival DePaul at Carnesecca Arena. Burrell led all scorers with 18 points. PHOTO BY DAN MILLER/DMD IMAGES

On Saturday afternoon, January 12, the St. John's University Red Storm men's basketball team (7-8, 1-3 Big East), faced the Blue Demons of DePaul (7-8, 3-1 Big East) before 4,451 spectators, the second biggest crowd this season at St. John's Carnesecca Arena.

The game began slowly for the Storm, who trailed 4-0 before scoring their first points on a dunk by Anthony Mason Jr. four minutes and seven seconds into the game. This began a 10-3 run, which gave St. John's a 10-7 lead. Neither team established itself in the first half, with the Red Storm shooting only 4-20 (25 percent) in the first 12 minutes. DePaul did not fare much better, committing seven turnovers. The first half saw five ties and ended with St. John's leading, 24-21.

In the second half, St. John's saw its lead disappear on a number of scoring runs by DePaul. With St. John's leading, 34-27, DePaul went on an 8-0 run to take the lead, 35- 34.

The Red Storm had its own run of 7-0 on a three-pointer by Larry Wright, followed by two baskets by Justin Burrell, and taking the lead, 41-35. DePaul responded with a run of 16-0 to take the lead, 51-41, and for all practical purposes put the game out of reach.

St. John's forward Justin Burrell led all scorers with 18 points and 11 rebounds. It was the sixth double-double of his career at St John's. Mason added 11 points and eight rebounds in a losing cause. For the winners, three DePaul players were in double figures: Darryl Tucker, 16 points and four rebounds, Draelon Burns, 10 points, two rebounds and Mac Koshwall, 10 points and four rebounds.

"We didn't take care of the basketball at key moments of the game," St. John's Head Coach Norm Roberts said after the loss to DePaul. "We made some ill-advised turnovers that turned into baskets. We had some opportunities to get down some shots and stop their run, and we didn't make them. We didn't make the plays on both the offensive and defensive ends. DePaul made the plays."

St. John's next game will be in Morgantown, West Virginia, when they face the West Virginia Mountaineers on Thursday, January 17. The game is set to tip off at 7 p.m. and will air live in the New York City area on the Madison Square Garden Network (MSG).