As St. John’s wrapped up its fifth straight victory, the Red Storm may have suffered their greatest loss of the season.
In the final minutes of an 82-71 win over Brown on Tuesday night, star wing Mustapha Heron was carried off the Carnesecca Arena court with a seemingly serious right ankle injury, potentially leaving his senior season in jeopardy. Heron — a preseason All-Big East Second Team selection — is scheduled to undergo tests on Wednesday.
The Red Storm (9-2) won’t return to the court until Dec. 18 and they will play just two games before the conference opener Dec. 31. Right now, the breaks don’t feel long enough.
“He’s big for our team. We’re a team that we don’t have a whole lot of room for error,” first-year coach Mike Anderson said. “With the players that we have, we have to hopefully have them playing at a high level.”
When Heron assisted Greg Williams Jr. on an emphatic one-handed slam in the first half, the half-empty Queens gym sounded like a sold-out Madison Square Garden.
When Heron blocked a layup attempt with two minutes remaining, and awkwardly landed on Brown’s Brandon Anderson, the only noise emanating from the silent arena came from the team’s second-leading scorer, who was writhing in pain underneath the basket. Heron needed teammates to lift him up from the ground and was unable to put any weight on his right foot. Forward Ian Steere scooped Heron into his arms and carried him off the floor.
Heron had scored 21 points, marking his highest output since opening with a combined 55 points in the season’s first two games.
“He’s one of the leaders of the team. Him and LJ [Figueroa] are the face of the program at this particular time,” Anderson said. “When he talks, they listen. Obviously we saw what he’s capable of doing … [but] it’s gonna be next man up. That’s how we prepare the guys. They always tell the football quarterbacks, you’re one play away from being out there. It’s the same thing with the guys who are out there on the bench. They give us a lift. They may be in a different role.”
In addition to being one of two returning starters and the leading scorer when Auburn was the 2017-18 SEC champion, Heron is the Red Storm’s lone senior. He carries unrivaled experience, confidence and authority.
“He’s a great leader,” said Figueroa, who led all scorers with 23 points. “He means everything to the team.”
Prior to the season-threatening injury, St. John’s faced its latest mid-major scare when the Bears (5-5) sliced an 18-point deficit to four with less than eight minutes remaining. Brown’s Joshua Howard missed a wide-open dunk that would have gotten the Bears within two before Figueroa finished a fast break on the other end, sparking a game-changing 10-0 run.
Following Saturday’s season-best win over West Virginia, the Red Storm committed just six turnovers, received another strong effort off the bench from Rasheem Dunn (12 points, six assists, no turnovers) and hit a season-best 24 of 26 free throws.
“We got tested again. As a coach, you always worry about this particular game, there are some trap games, games after the big game, one of them you worry about,” Anderson said. “We’re happy with the win.”
And worried about the future.