Guard D.J. Kennedy dunks in front of South Florida center Kentrell Gransberry and forward Orane Chin during the second half. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

Feb. 2, 2008

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Justin Burrell scored 22 points and St. John's rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to rebound from its worst-ever Big East loss with a 72-58 victory over South Florida on Saturday night.

The Red Storm (8-12, 2-7) shrugged off a slow start to win despite playing the second half without leading scorer Anthony Mason, Jr.

Mason's only basket finished a 17-1 run that erased USF's big lead. The 6-foot-7 junior limped off the floor 24 seconds after re-spraining his left ankle with the score tied 26-26 in the final minute of the opening half.

Burrell made up for Mason's absence with 12 in the second half, when St. John's broke the game open with an 11-1 spurt keyed by D.J. Kennedy, who scored all 13 of his points in the last 8 minutes of the game.

USF (10-13, 1-8) went without a field goal for the final 8:43 of the first half, then only made 9 of 26 shots after halftime.

Dominique Jones led the Bulls, who have lost eight straight -- all in the Big East, with 22 points. Mobolaji Ajayi scored 12 and Kentrell Gransberry added 10.

Larry Wright scored 17 on 7-of-8 shooting for the Red Storm. Malik Boothe finished with 11 points and 10 assists.

St. John's shot a season-worst 21.3 percent in its 74-42 loss to Georgetown. The Red Storm went without a field goal for the first 15:27 of that game and looked like they might be headed for another disappointing night when USF raced to a 25-9 lead.

Wrght's 3-pointer began a surge to close the half, and the Red Storm pulled even when Mason drove the right side for a layup. St. John's leading scorer was 1-for-5 and had 4 rebounds in 15 minutes.