February 27, 2000, New York, NY -- St. John's center Curtis Johnson (7-3, 330 pounds) couldn't have come up any bigger Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, as the sophomore changed the complexion of the game to rally St. John's (18-9, 9-6) past Notre Dame 84-81 in a pivotal BIG EAST matchup last night.

Johnson did not score a point, but his one rebound, one blocked shot and more importantly his presence in his seven minute stint in the second half gave the Irish big men fits to turn a 51-44 deficit (when he entered with 17:59 to play) into a 62-58 advantage. And, when Johnson departed for the bench with four fouls at the 10:56 mark to cap an 18-7 run for St. John's, the Garden crowd of 13,214 gave the big man a standing ovation for his strong performance.

"No one works harder and has prepared himself for this opportunity more than Curtis Johnson," SJU head coach Mike Jarvis said.

The Red Storm got remarkable performances out of star guard Marcus Hatten (28 points, 10 assists and six rebounds) along with senior Anthony Glover who pulled down nine rebounds to go with his 20 point effort in the win.

Notre Dame (18-9, 9-6 BIG EAST) dominated the first half and took a 47-40 lead into the locker room on the strength of Ryan Humphrey's 19 points and six rebounds. Humphrey would finish with 29 points but Johnson would alter his every shot in the final 20 minutes as the Red Storm defense clamped down to hold the Irish to just 34 second half points.

SJU seized the lead at 14:50 on a dunk by Eric King (12 points) to go ahead 55-53. After a Matt Carroll three-pointer tied the score at 66-66, King hit a six-foot jumper in the lane to give the Red Storm the lead for good at 68-66.

The Fighting Irish wouldn't quit led by freshman point guard Chris Thomas (eight points, 10 assists) who connected on a long three-pointer with 10:3 seconds to play to cut the deficit to 83-81 to set up the dramatic finish.

Hatten would convert one of two free-throws with 9:3 remaining and off his second missed free-throw gain control of the rebound, but in his haste to retrieve the ball he slipped and traveled to set up a final shot for Notre Dame.

Thomas would dribble through a sea of Red Storm defenders and loft up a half-court heave that hit the top of the shot clock and then as St. John's celebrated the ball dropped through the net. Lead official Tim Higgins waved off the basket as the horn sounded and the game was over. St. John's had prevailed 84-81.

Willie Shaw would also come up big for St. John's chipping in with 11 points off the bench including two three-pointers for the winners.

Prior to the game, the St. John's team got a motivational speech from 1952 St. John's alum and basketball star Solly Walker. Walker was the first African-American player ever to wear a St. John's uniform and he was on hand to represent the '52 team in pregame festivities to celebrate their 50th anniversary as runner-up to Kansas in the NCAA Final that year.

The Red Storm close out the regular season at Villanova on Sunday, March 3. Tipoff is set for 2:00p.m. and will be televised on WLNY-TV55. ESPN 1050AM radio will also carry the game live.