Dwight Hardy Leads St. John's to Road Win Over Villanova

Carmelo Anthony may have gotten New York City fans all gooey-eyed last week, but it is the St. John's men's basketball team, led by Dwight Hardy, which is the real feel-good story in Madison Square Garden. The Red Storm have an ongoing streak of five straight wins against ranked opponents at their home-away-from-home and took the show down the Jersey Turnpike to Philadelphia and did it again.

Today, St. John's (19-9, 11-5) took an early 14 point lead against #14 Villanova and held on to beat the Wildcats on their home court, 81-68.

Hardy, the senior guard, scored a career high 34 points and D.J. Kennedy had 12 points to go with his 14 rebounds.

The Johnnies have proved they are a force to be reckoned with at the Garden but now they have beaten a ranked team on the road.  It's a sure thing other teams in the Big East have noticed the Red Storm's surging play and, with the upcoming conference tournament being played at the Garden, those teams have to be nervous.

Who would have thought first-year head coach Steve Lavin could have molded the St. John's squad into the beast it is today.  The senior-filled squad plays tough defense, grabs loose balls and hangs in at crunch-time.  It is the toughest team in the brutal Big East.

Struggling Villanova (21-8, 9-7) got close, 65-64 after a Justin Burrell faux-foul, but couldn't handle the Red Storm's frantic full-court press as St. John's scored 16 of the last 24 points to win.

Now that St. John's has overcome two common pitfalls of streaking teams---losing on the road and let-downs against weaker opponents (they routed bottom-dweller DePaul on Wed.)---they should have their sights set for the Big East Tournament in two weeks.

Lavin, who has Big East Coach of the Year written all over him, has pinned the label of go-to guy on Hardy over the past few weeks.  Ever since Lavin removed his tie and started sporting white sneakers the team is 8-1 but it is Hardy that has Lavin and college basketball talking.

Lavin has publicly started lobbying for his senior guard  as a candidate for Big East Player of the Year and he won't find many detractors.

The head coach has compared Hardy to "Astaire and Baryshnikov" for his play on the court and thinks he is the front-runner for the award.

"I think he's the runaway favorite," said Lavin.  "I know I'm biased.  I'm subjective.  But no player has done more for a basketball team.  He's had some remarkable games against the best teams in the country---Connecticut, Duke, at UCLA and Pitt.  He's electrified and elevated our program.  He's jumper-cabled our program."

Now, you can throw 'Nova into the pile of ranked victims his program has run down.

If Lavin continues to wear his white tennies and St. John's stays in fourth place and gets a first-round bye in The Big East tournament, 'Melo just might become a side-act in Madison Square Garden this spring.

And if the team goes deep in the NCAA tournament, Lavin might be looking at National Coach of the Year.

St. John's Surges Past No. 4 Pitt, 60-59

Six nationally ranked teams have entered Madison Square Garden to face the St. John's men's basketball team and five have left the building on the losing end.  The Pittsburgh Panthers were the the latest squad to fall to streaking Red Storm, 60-59.  You would be hard-pressed to call it an upset.

Dwight Hardy, the red-hot St. John's guard, drove from mid-court to the baseline, head-faked Gilbert Brown and rolled in a basket from underneath the net with 1.2 seconds left to get the win. Hardy finished the game with 19 points.

The victory was sweet revenge for the senior-laden St. John's team who have never beaten Pitt in four years.  Last year the Johnnies were swept by the Panthers, lost by 23 in 2009 and were pounded by 24 in 2008.

The Red Storm (17-9, 9-5) are getting back at a lot of teams this season, especially at the Garden. The ranked teams who have fallen to St. John's reads like a potential Final Four.  Georgetown went down in January.  So did Notre Dame and Duke.   Connecticut bit the dust last week.  Don't forget road victories against ranked teams like West Virginia and Cincinnati.

Ironically, Pitt--the No. 1 rebounding team in the conference--lost a rebound after Hardy missed a free throw with 11.3 seconds remaining and a 59-58 lead.  The ball went to Hardy for the third straight time and he delivered the winner.

Hardy, who has emerged as a leading candidate for Big East Player of the Year, is averaging 27.8 points a game and shooting 56% on threes the last four games.

The Red Storm's head coach Steve Lavin can't say enough good things about his guard from the Bronx.

"He's been carrying us," Lavin said.  He's Big East Player of the Year.  A runaway."

In the head coach's own Lavinese, he continued, "It's a team effort but he [Hardy] is Baryshnikov...Fred Astaire.  He was Frank Sinatra today."

There is little doubt that St. John's deserves to be selected to the NCAA tournament next month.  The team's has the toughest schedule in the country and after flirting with a top-25 ranking all season the team should crack the top 20.

Pitt (24-3, 12-2) might have just played themselves out of a #1 seed come tournament time.

St. John's rounds out their regular season against DePaul, Seton Hall and South Florida.  The team travels to Philadelphia against top-ranked Villanova on Feb 26.  Wildcats beware!

The Big East Tournament comes to St. John's home-away-from-home court in Madison Square Garden in March.  The brutish conference is expecting to put up to 11 teams in the NCAA tournament.  If St. John's wins the trophy, nobody will call it an upset.