NEW YORK (AP)—Kevin Pittsnogle and Mike Gansey knew West Virginia’s 18-point lead over St. John’s wasn’t going to stay that comfortable. They just didn’t know how close the ninth-ranked Mountaineers would come to losing all of it.
West Virginia made just one field goal over the final 11 minutes and almost blew a 13-point lead in the last 3 minutes, but the Mountaineers managed to hang on for a 66-61 victory on Sunday.
“We didn’t expect to win by 20 and obviously we struggled down the stretch,” said Gansey, who had 15 points, including four free throws in the final 14 seconds. “St. John’s is a tough team and we knew they would make a run.”
Pittsnogle had 19 points for the Mountaineers (15-4, 6-0), who remained the only unbeaten team in the Big East. West Virginia was coming off a 58-52 loss to Marshall this week that snapped its 12-game winning streak.
“There have been games where we have given away leads, UCLA for example,” Pittsnogle said, referring to last weekend’s 60-56 win over the Bruins, a game where a 20-point second-half lead was cut to three in the final 2 minutes. “We know we will make plays at the end of games. We are a senior-laden team and we know how to win games.”
The Mountaineers were in control for most of the game, but the Red Storm (10-8, 3-4) got within 62-60 with 30 seconds to play. St. John’s put itself in position for a third win over a ranked team in four games.
Gansey missed two free throws with 27 seconds left. Eugene Lawrence missed on a drive but Lamont Hamilton got the rebound for the Red Storm. Daryll Hill threw the ball away with 14 seconds left and Gansey was fouled again.
This time the 65 percent free throw shooter made both and the Mountaineers had a 64-60 lead.
Hill made one free throw with 5.2 seconds left and Gansey ended any thoughts of an upset when he made two more free throws with 3.1 seconds to go.
“I missed two free throws then shook it off and made four,” Gansey said.
Frank Young had 11 points, nine in the first half, for West Virginia, which beat St. John’s for the fifth straight time. The last three games have been by a total of 10 points.
Hamilton had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Red Storm, who played without starting center Aaron Spears, who was suspended after being ejected for fighting in a loss to No. 1 Connecticut on Wednesday.
Hill added 17 points for St. John’s, which finished 3-for-13 from 3-point range and outrebounded West Virginia 49-25.
“These games show we are capable of playing with anybody if we have the focus and energy we need to have,” St. John’s coach Norm Roberts said of the ranked run that started with wins over Louisville and Pittsburgh. “Now we have games coming against non-ranked teams that are still good basketball teams and we have to play with the same passion. If we do that, we will win our share of games.”
The Mountaineers went 7:01 without scoring in the second half, but the Red Storm didn’t take advantage and only cut a 54-36 lead to 10 points. Phil Missere’s layup with 4:40 to play brought St. John’s within 54-44, but 23 seconds later Pittsnogle finally ended the scoring drought with a 3-pointer.
“In the second half we played with energy, we played hard,” Roberts said. “We had to attack the basket and we did.”
Pittsnogle’s 3 was the Mountaineers’ only field goal over the last 11 minutes. They shot 41.5 percent for the game (22-for-53) and were 10-of-27 from 3-point range. West Virginia entered the game second in the country with 10.3 3-pointers per game.
“We started to shoot too quickly, maybe we played too smart and stopped attacking,” West Virginia coach John Beilein said. “We had good shots and didn’t make them and that other team was charging. Then Kevin hit that big shot we really needed, the big dagger.”
Beilein didn’t seem too concerned about his team losing big leads.
“I think that is a pattern in college basketball. We are not alone,” he said. “Maybe we took a couple of shots where the shot clock was too high for a road team.”
