With his team down by more than 20 points, the last thing St. John’s forward Phil Missere expected after fouling out was a standing ovation. But the fans at Madison Square Garden gave him one.

The 13 points Missere scored against Boston College on Feb. 8 were the first points the junior ever scored in a St. John’s uniform.

Though Missere’s 13 points were in a losing effort – the Eagles won 89-61 – fans didn’t seem to care. As St. John’s (5-16, 0-10 Big East) players walked into the locker room, they received a standing ovation from the 7,435 fans at Madison Square Garden.

‘They played with a lot of purpose,’ BC head coach Al Skinner said. ‘That’s what you really want from your team, to play with some pride and play up to their ability. They did that.’

After a loss at Pittsburgh (23-2, 9-2) on Feb. 4, six St. John’s players broke curfew by leaving the team hotel to go to a strip club in a Pittsburgh suburb. The players, most of them starters, met a prostitute at the club and hired her to come back to their hotel.

The next day, according to several reports, the woman told Pittsburgh-area police that some of the players raped her. The claims were quickly disregarded though, because one player produced a cell phone video that proved the sex was consensual. The tape also showed the woman threatening the players after their refusal to pay.

All six players involved were punished by St. John’s. Freshman Tyler Jones will return to the lineup after a two-game suspension. Lamont Hamilton and Mohamed Diakite remain suspended. Center Abe Keita has been suspended for one year. Rather than face the board of judicial review, starting guard Elijah Ingram withdrew from the St. John’s, and senior forward Grady Reynolds was expelled.

Tonight, after losses against Boston College (17-8, 6-6) and West Virginia (14-8, 6-5), Kyle Cuffe and the rest of the walk-ons will host Georgetown. Even though SJU hasn’t won a conference game, the Red Storm continue gaining respect from coaches in the Big East, including their own.

‘It was difficult for our walk-on guys,’ said St. John’s head coach Kevin Clark. ‘They took on all the challenges and proved to be more than I expected.’

‘I did think they were able to compete and play hard, but they’re obviously at a disadvantage right now,’ WVU assistant coach Jeff Neubauer said. ‘It’s just an unfortunate situation where their program has been through quite a bit of turmoil.’

After the game against BC, the remarks of the Rev. Donald J. Harrington, president of St. John’s, cast more of a shadow over the team. He said that he blamed ‘the culture’ of the basketball team for what had occurred, and threatened to cut the basketball program until the team’s problems were solved.

Though school spokesman Jody Fisher denied St. John’s basketball would be removed, comments about the ‘culture’ of the team stirred controversy among the students since all the players suspended or expelled were black.

‘I really do feel that it’s a race thing,’ St. John’s sophomore Marcel Duplan told the New York Times.

More than 200 students attended an hour-long meeting hosted by Harrington shortly before the WVU game, discussing his comments and the status of the team – mostly the status of those who were no longer playing.

Those who now actually play for St. John’s, though, are still looking for the squad’s first Big East win. Many, including the fans who attended the BC game, feel that there are some things more important than winning – especially in this situation.

‘You make your players understand that they will continually be faced with a lot of challenges,’ Clark said. ‘Right now, it’s not just about basketball, but it’s about life and dealing with the challenges before them.’

Said Skinner: ‘You can’t measure their success in wins and losses, but you can definitely measure it in effort. I thought they gave a winning effort when they played us. If they ever happen to squeak out a game, that would be tremendous.’

Mountaineers leaderless

Wednesday’s game against St. John’s was the first West Virginia head coach John Beilien had missed in 26 years. Beilien was out because of back spasms.

‘He actually didn’t have any trouble until (Wednesday) morning,’ said Neubauer, WVU’s assistant coach. ‘That’s when things turned on him.’

He said that Beilien had severe pain up until Thursday. Neubauer assumed the role of head coach in place of Beilien, leading the Mountaineers to an 86-52 victory.

‘It’s a much different scenario when you’re the head coach,’ Neubauer said. ‘There are a lot more things going through your head.’

Coach Beilien returned for Saturday’s 67-60 victory over Villanova.

Rupp All-America Team

The Big East has three finalists for the Aldolph F. Rupp Award. This award is given each year to college basketball’s elite player. It is named after Aldolph F. Rupp, a Kentucky head coach who recorded 876 wins and four national championships from 1930 to 1972.

Providence’s Ryan Gomes, Syracuse’s Hakim Warrick and Connecticut’s Emeka Okafor represent the Big East in a list of 16 finalists.

The Big East is tied with the Atlantic Coast Conference for the most nominations of any conference in the nation. The Southeastern Conference, Big Ten and the Pac 10 each have two nominations each.

The Rupp All-America Team will be announced in March, and the Rupp Player of the Year award will be announced at the Final Four in San Antonio.

This and that

Pittsburgh forward Mark McCarroll, who had scored in double figures in only one Big East game this season, had 15 points in a 75-68 win over Connecticut on Sunday. … Providence’s Ryan Gomes posted his 10th double-double of the season Saturday against Boston College. … Jared Dudley of Boston College earned Big East Rookie of the Week honors by scoring nine of his team’s 10 points in overtime in a 61-52 victory over Miami. … As of yesterday, the Big East is the only conference in the nation with seven teams in the RPI’s top 40.

Published on February 17, 2004 at 12:00 pm