Cardinals-Red Storm: St. John's Takes Home Big Win vs. Louisville

St. John's Head Coach Norm Roberts will sleep well tonight. After getting booed during introductions from the small Madison Square Garden crowd, his team knocked off  reigning Big East Champion Louisville, 74-55. 

With fans few and far between in the world's most famous arena—probably because of the snowstorm a day prior—the Red Storm came out and put a beating on Rick Pitino's squad in a game that the Cardinals couldn't afford to lose.

This game will surely put a damper on the Cardinals' chances for making the NCAA Tournament—while at the same time, it might give a boost to a St. John's team that needs some quality wins going into the Big East Tournament.

St. John's led it from wire to wire. After taking a 12-0 lead, the Red Storm didn't allow a bucket until about seven minutes into the game. 

No one could get going for the Cardinals. Samardo Samuels had 11 of their first 13 points and finished with 18 on the night. No other Cardinal scored more than eight. 

D.J. Kennedy led St. John's with 15 points and five assists. (He was also honored before the game after becoming the 44th Red Storm player to ever score 1,000 points.) Justin Burell had a solid night with 14 points and eight rebounds. 

St. John's will have an easier finish to the regular season, as only two of their last seven games are against ranked opponents in the top 25 (Pittsburgh and Syracuse). Their next game is at Notre Dame on Sunday. 

Louisville still has to face Syracuse twice this season, with the Cardinals' next game at the Carrier Dome on Sunday.