St. John's takes down No. 5 Duke at Madison Square Garden
Duke
The Duke Blue Devils  don't look like a team ready to make a March Madness run.
Or that  they  are the No. 5 team in the country. In fact  coach Mike Krzyzewski called their performance Saturday disgusting.
Shamorie Ponds scored 33 points and St. John’s rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to defeat Duke 81-77 in a non-conference clash at Madison Square Garden in New York. It ends an 11-game skid for the Red Storm.
Bashir Ahmed added 19 points and Tariq Owens had 17 for the Red Storm (11-13  0-11 Big East)  who overcame an early 10-point deficit and fought off  Duke’s heralded freshmen  down the stretch in  their  biggest win under third-year coach Chris Mullin.
And it's another surprising loss for Duke (19-4  7-3 ACC)  who were sloppy throughout the game — 18 turnovers — and flat to open the second half.
Duke  which fell behind by double digits in the second half  woke up late to regain the lead with just more than a minute to play but could not finish it off.
15:27 to go in the second half  #SJUBB leads Duke  46-43. Tariq Owens now with 12 points after this thunderous throwdown from Shamorie Ponds (17 points). pic.twitter.com/9uNg6BfKYd — St. John's BBall (@StJohnsBBall) February 3  2018
Outhustled all afternoon  Duke was coming off an easy win over Notre Dame that followed a disappointing 65-63 loss to No. 2 Virginia at home last weekend.
It was the first meeting between the teams since  Duke  coach Mike Krzyzewski got  his  1 000th career win with a 77-68 victory at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 25  2015.
 Duke : Fell to 34-19 at the Garden  including 29-11 under Coach K. … The Blue Devils will be back in New York City next month for the ACC Tournament across the river at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. …  Duke  leads the all-time series 16-7.
Duke: Plays at North Carolina on Thursday night  the first of two regular-season meetings between the longtime rivals.
[TGT]don't look like a team ready to make a March Madness run.
Or that  [TGT]  are the No. 5 team in the country. In fact  coach Mike Krzyzewski called their performance Saturday disgusting.
Shamorie Ponds scored 33 points and St. John’s rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to defeat Duke 81-77 in a non-conference clash at Madison Square Garden in New York. It ends an 11-game skid for the Red Storm.
Bashir Ahmed added 19 points and Tariq Owens had 17 for the Red Storm (11-13  0-11 Big East)  who overcame an early 10-point deficit and fought off  Duke’s heralded freshmen  down the stretch in  their  biggest win under third-year coach Chris Mullin.
And it's another surprising loss for Duke (19-4  7-3 ACC)  who were sloppy throughout the game — 18 turnovers — and flat to open the second half.
[TGT]which fell behind by double digits in the second half  woke up late to regain the lead with just more than a minute to play but could not finish it off.
15:27 to go in the second half  #SJUBB leads [TGT]46-43. Tariq Owens now with 12 points after this thunderous throwdown from Shamorie Ponds (17 points). pic.twitter.com/9uNg6BfKYd — St. John's BBall (@StJohnsBBall) February 3  2018
Outhustled all afternoon  [TGT] was coming off an easy win over Notre Dame that followed a disappointing 65-63 loss to No. 2 Virginia at home last weekend.
It was the first meeting between the teams since  [TGT]coach Mike Krzyzewski got  [TGT]  1 000th career win with a 77-68 victory at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 25  2015.
 [TGT] : Fell to 34-19 at the Garden  including 29-11 under Coach K. … The Blue Devils will be back in New York City next month for the ACC Tournament across the river at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. …  [TGT]leads the all-time series 16-7.
Duke: Plays at North Carolina on Thursday night  the first of two regular-season meetings between the longtime rivals.