RJ Luis Jr. withstood shooting struggles and scored 19 points, including the tiebreaking free throws with 6:16 remaining as St. John’s rallied from a 15-point deficit and earned a 63-58 victory over Georgetown on Tuesday in New York.
A day after being named Big East Player of the Week for his 30-point showing Saturday against Villanova, Luis missed his first six shots and finished 7-for-19 overall from the floor. However, he snapped a 50-50 tie with the free throws that gave St. John’s (15-3, 6-1 Big East) the lead for good, part of a game-ending 17-8 stretch.
Aaron Scott added 14 and nine rebounds as the Red Storm won their fourth straight and improved to 12-0 at home. Kadary Richmond chipped in 10 points and eight assists and hit a tying layup with 7:24 left along with another basket in the final minute.
St. John’s survived shooting 34.8 percent against the Big East’s top scoring defense.
The Red Storm’s Zuby Ejiofor added 10 points and nine rebounds before sitting most of the final seven minutes after picking up his fourth foul. Simeon Wilcher started for Deivon Smith (shoulder) and hit a clutch 3-pointer in the final push on a night when he shot 2-of-8 and scored five points.
Micah Peavy led all scorers with 21 points, but Georgetown (12-5, 3-3) dropped its third straight. Malik Mack added 13 points and Curtis Williams Jr. contributed 11 for the Hoyas, who shot 41.4 percent and committed 19 turnovers.
Standout freshman Thomas Sorber helped Georgetown to a 44-38 rebounding edge by grabbing 10 boards but was held to five points. He spent most of the final four-plus minutes in the locker room after appearing to injure his elbow.
The Hoyas settled for a 37-27 halftime lead after leading by 15 on Peavy’s dunk with 2:43 left in the half.
St. John’s went on a 19-2 run, which included a 3-pointer from Scott that gave the hosts a 44-43 lead with 12:57 left. After Ejiofor’s putback gave St. John’s a 3-point advantage 31 seconds later, the Hoyas took a 50-46 lead on a hoop by Peavy with 9:25 left.
Two free throws by Ruben Prey gave St. John’s a 56-52 lead with 3:52 remaining, and Wilcher’s trey made it 59-55 with 2:07 left. After Peavy split two at the line with 1:09 left, Richmond hit a floater in the lane with 50 seconds remaining for a 61-56 edge.
Luis finished it off by scooping in a layup with 23 seconds to go.
–Field Level Media
