2010 St. John's Red Storm Basketball: St. John's vs Notre Dame

Life isn't fair. That's a truth known to most human beings, but while you might think that statement applies only to the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, one needs to realize that the St. John's Red Storm haven't exactly had it easy the past several years.

Indeed, it was and is unfortunate that Notre Dame took the court Sunday night in South Bend, Ind., without its star performer, big man Luke Harangody. A profound void emerges when the Big East's leading scorer is felled by an injury, so it was impossible to deny that coach Mike Brey's Irish were rendered a lot more impotent than they usually are. Life didn't give the home team any favors heading into this tussle at the Joyce Center.

Then again, consider the plight of the team that took on Notre Dame.

St. John's hasn't been living high on the hog while the Irish have suffered. The Johnnies have occupied the bottom rung of the Big East over the past few seasons, sharing the lower regions of the league with South Florida, DePaul and Rutgers. Until last year, the bottom few teams in the Big East were excluded from the conference tournament, so St. John's - a tenant of Madison Square Garden - was occasionally shut out of its home-court event. That's how bad SJU hoops have been over the past decade. The last time the Red Storm even played in the postseason, Mike Jarvis coached this storied basketball school to the NIT title in 2003. The program that once cranked out regular NCAA Tournament squads in the Louie Carnesecca era entered a dry desert and found no escape route for the past several seasons.

Therefore, if Notre Dame found life to be particularly harsh in this contest, its opponent knew a little something about misery as well. Moreover, since St. John's hadn't won in South Bend since 1997, it was still reasonable to expect the diminished Irish - fighting for an NCAA bid - to find enough scoring punch to push past the visitors from the Big Apple.

However, Notre Dame couldn't rally 'round Luke Harangody. The boys from New York stole the show... and a game that decisively knocked the Irish to yet another NIT appearance.

This was a back-and-forth barnburner that appeared destined for a close finish after the 14:29 mark of regulation. Neither team led by more than four points after that point in time, and these two squads - made even by Harangody's absence - buckled up for a bumpy ride down the stretch.

SJU took a 64-60 lead with 3:17 to go, but just as soon as the Johnnies seemed to take the upper hand, Notre Dame's Tom Abromaitis reeled off two straight 3-point plays (one old-fashioned, one behind the arc) to give the home team a 66-64 edge. St. Johns guard Dwight Hardy (who posted a team-leading 16 points) threw down a go-ahead three to give the visitors a 67-66 edge with 56 seconds left, but Notre Dame forward Tyrone Nash responded with two foul shots to bring the lead back to the Irish, 68-67, with 38 seconds remaining. St. John's could have sagged and lost heart after giving up a pair of leads, but to their everlasting credit, the Red Storm regathered themselves one more time, and hit the pot of gold the Irish wanted to keep for themselves.

SJU's D.J. Kennedy drew a foul on Notre Dame's Carleton Scott - yes, the same Carleton Scott who missed a tying 3-pointer in the Irish's 90-87 loss last Thursday at Seton Hall - and sank two free throws for a 69-68 Red Storm lead with 12 seconds left. Irish guard Tory Jackson had two chances to win the game, but when the second of his two shots missed the mark at the final horn, SJU broke its 13-year drought in South Bend while also claiming (just) the tenth road win of coach Norm Roberts's tenure in New York.

Life didn't deal a good hand to Notre Dame on Sunday, but the Irish played a fairly luckless opponent as well. NCAA Tournament teams will find a way to pull through against a mediocre foe - even without their best player - but since Notre Dame couldn't turn the trick, the NIT will come to South Bend for yet another season.

St. John's vs Notre Dame Basketball Recap