Darling calls own shot to keep St. John's dancing

SAN DIEGO -- Dylan Darling had not scored. With 3.9 seconds left and the score tied in a game that No. 5 seed St. John's once led by 14 points, Darling had no business holding the Johnnies' fate in his hands against 4-seed Kansas.

And yet, there he was, slashing straight into the paint and laying up the ball with such forward momentum that he never saw it go in.

"I just heard everybody going crazy," Darling said after St. John's 67-65 victory Sunday in the second round of the NCAA tournament. "It was pretty cool."

While Red Storm coach Rick Pitino barely reacted to the winner, Darling was mobbed by his teammates. After Kansas had used its remaining four fouls to run seconds off the clock, Pitino's options had been limited. Darling knew there wasn't enough time for Pitino's intended playcall, so he made a suggestion.

"This is the amazing thing, and the funniest thing I've ever been involved with," Pitino said. "[Darling] comes up to me and says, 'Run power,' which is a high, back-screen pick-and-roll. So, I walk away, and I said, 'Wait a second: He hasn't scored a bucket, and he wants to run a play for himself."'

Darling had taken four shots during Sunday's game before the final play and missed all of them. Pitino, though baffled by the junior guard's confidence, couldn't help but respect the audacity.

"I just can't imagine a player today, in today's world, with all the scrutiny, wanting the ball when he's shooting terrible," Pitino said. "It was the only play we could run -- or you could try to throw it into the high post area.

"But as soon as [Darling] said to me to run power, I knew he could get to the rim because he hadn't done a damn good thing the whole night, so I knew he was going to do it."

Darling offered his take.

"I don't think Coach really had a choice at that point in time," he said. "I probably don't deserve this. I was pretty bad all night long, but my teammates held it down tonight."

One teammate, in particular, had gotten St. John's to that point. Senior forward Bryce Hopkins had a team-high 18 points against Kansas, all coming from 3-pointers. Hopkins had not made more than three 3-pointers in a game all season, and he doubled that Sunday while the Johnnies otherwise struggled to find an offensive rhythm.

As Jayhawks coach Bill Self said in his postgame interview, the scouting report told them that they were fine with Hopkins taking 3s. The numbers indicated he wouldn't make many of them, and yet he did, in part because Pitino kept urging Hopkins and the rest of his team to take them.

"I said, 'You have to keep shooting the 3.' I was all over Bryce Hopkins, actually got all over him. I said, 'Why won't you shoot the 3?' I yelled at him when he made it," Pitino said. "We need it because when you're not in sync offensively because of their size, and they wouldn't let us have a good look, your only salvation is to make 3s."

Pitino said it has been a seasonlong struggle to get his team to shoot more from beyond the arc. In each of the past two games, St. John's has made at least 10 3-pointers (11 on Sunday), a number that is nearly four more per game than its season average. But all season, the Red Storm's calling card has been their defense. Sunday's outing marked the ninth time in the past 10 contests that they have held an opponent to fewer than 70 points.

"We still have a lot in our tank because we're a very good defensive team," Pitino said. "We win with our defense, and we're learning how valuable the 3-point line is now."

Yet, no defensive effort and no 3-pointer would have mattered Sunday had it not been for Darling, who called his own number, made the shot and punched the Red Storm's ticket to their first Sweet 16 since 1999. It's the 14th trip for Pitino, who is one of only three coaches to make the Sweet 16 with four programs.

"It just makes me go down memory lane," Pitino said of Sunday's game. "This was the final for me, to get St. John's to the next level. And we're not done yet."