WASHINGTON — This time, “Power” didn’t work in St. John’s favor.
Down three in the final seconds, Rick Pitino called for the play that resulted in Dylan Darling’s buzzer-beating basket against Kansas.
But Darling’s potential game-tying 3-pointer gently grazed the rim with 1.8 seconds left and the fifth-seeded Johnnies saw their memorable season come to a close Friday night.
“We were trying to set a screen, a high screen, and get them to help,” coach Rick Pitino said after the heartbreaking 80-75 loss to No. 1 Duke at Capital One Arena. “They’d probably leave Zuby [Ejiofor] alone. And if we didn’t have that, we would go down the lane and find the corners. We didn’t necessarily want that shot, but that’s OK.
“He had a slight opening, and he had the gumption to take it.”
Darling hit two 3-pointers in the loss, and he was St. John’s best guard Friday.
But he couldn’t play the role of hero again after his clutch shot eliminated Kansas.
“Coach drew up ‘Power’ again,” Darling said. “We were down three. I guess it was a little bit of a miscommunication on what type of shot we wanted. That’s the shot we ended up with. … I would have to watch it back. In the moment, I thought it was a decent look if we were trying to get a 3.”
Darling hit a number of big shots this year for St. John’s — hence the nickname, “Church Bells,” given to him by Pitino — and became a key piece to the first Red Storm team to reach the Sweet 16 since 1999.
Ruben Prey’s four made 3-pointers were a career high. St. John’s finished the season by hitting double-digit 3s in three straight games. The Red Storm hit 10 or more triples in back-to-back games just once before the NCAA Tournament. … The Johnnies were outscored by 12 in the paint and outrebounded by 13. They also took 16 fewer free throws than Duke.