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Red Statement Barkley returns from exile, leads St. John's to victory
Posted: Saturday February 12, 2000 06:24 PM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Erick Barkley looked the same on the court with 16 points and seven assists. It's off the court where the sophomore guard said there's a difference. Barkley returned from his two-game suspension to lead St. John's to a 78-75 victory over Villanova on Saturday. He hadn't spoken with the media since his original three-game suspension by the NCAA over a rules violation involving his trading cars with a family friend. The suspension -- Barkley missed victories over Boston College and Providence -- was shortened by one game Thursday following an appeal by St. John's. "It helped me grow up quicker and mature more," Barkley, the team's leading scorer at 16.9 points per game, told a packed postgame news conference at Madison Square Garden. "All the support from the school, coaches, teammates and my family helped me through it. It helped ease the pain a lot." Barkley's sneakers made a statement during the game. He had "NCAA" written on the side of each one. On his right heel it said, "Free at Last," and on his left it said, "Only God Can Judge Me." "The NCAA is where we want to go," he said referring to the postseason tournament. Barkley gave the Red Storm (16-6, 8-3 Big East) the lead for good at 64-61 with the first of 3-pointers with 5:51 left. Villanova (13-9, 4-6) was within 66-65 when Barkley hit the second of the 3-pointers with 3:58 to play. He finished 2-for-6 from beyond the arc and 6-for-16 overall. "I came out with confidence as always," he said. "I just wanted to run the team even with the lack of my shot. Coach told me to keep shooting and I made some at the end. It was my timing to make those two at a good point of the game." A drive by Gary Buchanan had the Wildcats within 74-73 with 27 seconds left. Lavor Postell of St. John's made two free throws six seconds later to restore the lead to three points. Buchanan then turned the ball over when he tried to dribble through defenders in the open court and Barkley made one of two free throws with 16 seconds left for a 77-73 lead. Jermaine Medley scored for Villanova with 11 seconds left and Postell made one of two free throws a second later for the final score. Villanova's final chance at a tie ended when Buchanan had the ball in the corner but was tied up by Anthony Glover. "I was just hoping they wouldn't come to my side because I had four fouls," Glover said. "I caught the ball before he shot it." Postell and Glover each had 13 points for St. John's, while Bootsy Thornton added 11. "This was one of those games that we really had to have like the last two were," St. John's coach Mike Jarvis said. "The hardest games to win are those games you have to have." Senior center Malik Allen matched his career-high with 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Villanova. Medley had 16 points. "Barkley wanted to come out and make things happen," Medley said. "I tried to stay with him in the man-to-man but had a tough time. He's a pretty good player. You just try to contain him." Allen had 20 points in the second half on 8-for-9 shooting. "I felt good even in the first half but then I got a good rhythm going," Allen said. "We had trouble getting into the game. We knew it was a big game but we just had so many turnovers early." Barkley praised Allen without any prompting. "People talk about [Syracuse's] Etan Thomas and [Connecticut's] Jake Voskuhl, but I think Malik Allen is one of the best center in the Big East and one of the best big men in the country," he said.
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