SAN DIEGO — “Church Bells” arrived at the perfect time.
Dylan Darling, the Idaho State transfer in the midst of a massive shooting slump, didn’t flinch when everything had suddenly gone sideways.
A 14-point lead has vanished.
Only 3.9 seconds remained.
He went over to coach Rick Pitino.
“Run ‘Power,’ ” he told the Hall of Famer, which is a high screen-and-roll between Darling and Zuby Ejiofor.
Pitino was stunned.
Darling hadn’t scored a point.
He had missed 16 straight 3-point attempts.
He wasn’t ice-cold — the southpaw point guard was frozen.
Yet, he wanted the ball.
“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.’ I’m thinking as I’m walking, but he’s ‘Bells,’ ” Pitino said.
He put the ball in Darling’s hands, and the smallest player on the floor became a St. John’s hero.
His right-handed layup at the buzzer sent the fifth-seeded Johnnies to a dramatic 67-65 win over Kansas and the program’s first Sweet 16 berth since 1999.
Darling strutted after it dropped and was immediately mobbed by his jubilant red-clad teammates.
“To be honest, the ball left my hands and I hit the ground, and I didn’t even see the ball go in,” Darling said. “I just heard everybody going crazy.”
He later added: “I was just happy to hit the shot, because if I didn’t, Coach P might’ve killed me. I would’ve had to pay for my own flight home.”
St. John’s (30-6) will meet Duke in the Sweet 16 on Friday in Washington, D.C., its first trip to that round in 27 years.
After winning the Big East regular-season and postseason titles each of the past two seasons, the Johnnies’ goal was to advance deep into the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s my last year in college, we haven’t been to the Sweet 16 since 1999,” Ejiofor said. “I wasn’t even born yet. I know Johnnies Nation is really proud, really excited.”
Darryn Peterson, the potential No. 1 pick in June’s NBA draft, had pulled the Jayhawks (24-11) even with 14.1 seconds left, capping a furious run that saw them erase a 14-point St. John’s cushion.
Kansas was able to use four fouls to stall St. John’s because it was under the limit.
With 3.9 seconds left, the Red Storm inbounded the ball to Darling. Ejiofor came out to set a high-ball screen, but Darling went to his right for the game-winning basket with the lane open.
They were his only points of the game.
“That’s why we call him ‘Church Bells,’ ” Bryce Hopkins said. “He lives up to those big moments for sure.”
In mid-February, after Darling hit a game-winning 3-pointer at Xavier, Pitino joked that he had “balls the size of church bells.”
Boy, was he right.
Ejiofor led St. John’s with 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists against his old team, and Hopkins also had 18 points and a St. John’s NCAA Tournament record six 3-pointers.
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Ian Jackson had 10 crucial points off the bench.
Peterson scored 21 for Kansas, but shot just 5-for-15 from the field.
The Red Storm have won 21 of their past 22 games, and it was their defense that carried them.
They forced 16 turnovers and held Kansas to five 3-pointers.
Against bigger Kansas, St. John’s let it fly from deep, making 11 3-pointers.
The Johnnies have hit 21 3s in two tournament games, their most in back-to-back contests this year.
“We win with our defense, and we’re learning how valuable the 3-point line is now,” Pitino said.
St. John’s led by 10 at the under-12 timeout as it continued to handcuff Kansas.
The Jayhawks had as many turnovers (four) as made field goals over the first 8:21 of the second half.
When Dillon Mitchell scored on back-to-back possessions, St. John’s lead had ballooned to 14.
Only 8:51 remained between the Johnnies and a Sweet 16 berth.
They didn’t know at the time how tense those final minutes would be.
It now sets up a showdown with Duke.
Pitino was on the wrong side of a buzzer-beater against the Blue Devils in the 1992 Elite Eight.
He was on the other end of a very different finish Sunday.
“I’m hoping we can get Duke at the buzzer next,” he said, “to make up for that Christian Laettner shot.”
