The St. John's Red Storm got off to a good start in the Big East Tournament Tuesday afternoon at Madison Square Garden behind 13 points from Moe Harkless, but a late Pittsburgh surge put the Red Storm behind 33-28 at intermission with some work to do in half two.
St. John's led 28-25 before Pittsburgh ended the half on an 8-0 flurry.
The first half was a war of attrition, with neither team cracking 40 percent from the floor. St. John's hit 33.3 percent of its field goal attempts and Pittsburgh barely managed better 36.7 percent.
God'sgift Achiuwa contributed five points and nine rebounds off the bench for the Red Storm, and D'Angelo Harrison added points.
Pittsburgh was paced by Ashton Gibbs, who drained a trio of three-pointers on his way to pouring in 15 points.
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