Big East
St. John's was the only Big East team in action on Thursday night, and we think it's safe to say that the rest of the conference would have preferred they just stayed home.
The Johnnies(2-1) blew their big chance to make a splash by getting humiliated by Maryland 92-60 in the semifinals of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Madison Square Garden.
"We all stunk," said St. John's Coach Norm Roberts.
The game was all but over quickly. St. John's tied the score at 2-2 on a layup by Aaron Spears with 19:06 remaining in the first half. Maryland responded with a 6-0 run and kept pouring it on throughout the half. When D. J. Strawberry, son of the former Mets and Yankees slugger Darryl Strawberry, made a jumper with 12:42 left, the Terrapins had a 25-6 lead. Strawberry finished the game with 19 points
This is Darryl's Strawberry's son. He
should be applauded.
Maryland led 58-21 at halftime and by as many as 41 in the second half.
"We just didn't come out to ready to play," Red Storm guard Eugene Lawrence said. "It was pretty embarrassing for us to lose like this on national television."
Maryland (4-0) will face Michigan State in the championship game. The Spartans (4-0) defeated No. 19 Texas, 63-61, on Drew Neitzel's driving layup with 2.4 seconds left in the other semifinal.