Feb 27, 2002
NEW YORK (AP) – Marcus Hatten had 28 points and 10 assists to lead St. John’s to an 84-81 victory over Notre Dame on Wednesday night, moving the Red Storm into a tie for second place in the Big East’s East Division.
Anthony Glover added 20 points for the Red Storm (19-9), who are tied with Miami for second with 9-6 records. The top two teams in each division get a bye into the conference tournament quarterfinals.
Eric King had 12 points and Willie Shaw added 11 for St. John’s, which was coming off a 42-point loss at No. 3 Duke.
Ryan Humphrey had 29 points and 11 rebounds for the Fighting Irish (19-9, 9-6), who fell to third place in the West, one-half game behind Syracuse.
Matt Carroll was 4-for-5 from 3-point range and added 19 points for Notre Dame, while David Graves and Harold Swanagan each had 11. Freshman point guard Chris Thomas finished with eight points on 2-for-11 shooting and had 10 assists.
Swanagan’s jumper five seconds into the second half gave the Irish a 51-40 lead. St. John’s then went on a 22-4 run, the last seven points scored by Hatten, for a 62-55 lead with 12:22 to go.
Notre Dame rallied to tie the game at 66-66 on 3 by Carroll with 7:01 to go. The Red Storm then took the lead for good on jumper by King with 6:31 left. That started a 10-3 run that King closed with a basket with 4:24 left, and St. John’s led 76-69.
Notre Dame got within 78-77 on a tip-in by Humphrey with 2:22 left, but Shaw hit a 3-pointer 27 seconds later and then added two free throws with 19 seconds left that gave the Red Storm a five-point lead.