Ending a 27-year drought was never going to be easy.
The refs didn’t need to make it any harder.
Before St. John’s punched its first Sweet 16 ticket since 1999 on Dylan Darling’s buzzer-beater, Kansas had clawed back from a 14-point deficit to tie the game at Viegas Arena on Sunday, partly due to multiple questionable calls late in the game that went against the Red Storm.
Holding a 62-57 lead with less than three minutes remaining, St. John’s was incorrectly whistled for a backcourt violation that should have been negated when Kansas’ Melvin Council Jr. deflected the ball.
The Jayhawks scored on the ensuing possession to cut the deficit to three.
Then, with St. John’s up by four and just over a minute to play, Kansas’ Kohl Rosario saved a missed shot from going out of bounds, but may have failed to re-establish his position on the court.
After lifting his foot off the court, Rosario tapped the ball to Tre White, whose basket with 1:01 remaining made it 65-63.
After Darryn Peterson’s game-tying free throws, the teams appeared headed for overtime.
Then Darling washed any controversy away with his game-winning shot in St. John’s 67-65 victory that earns it a date with No. 1-seeded Duke.
