It isn't supposed to happen.
A man doesn't upstage Elvis at a blues concert, no one outshines Fred Astaire at a dance contest and certainly, no player should thrive against Duke in basketball.
But in the last two years, Bootsy Thornton has made a living out of terrorizing the Blue Devils.
After dropping a career-high 40 points against Duke last season in Madison Square Garden, Thornton poured in another 22 points Saturday, including the game-winning line drive from the right wing to snap Duke's 26-game winning streak in Cameron against non-conference opponents.
"We're much better when we're playing people that are actually much more talented than we are," St. John's coach Mike Jarvis said. "And Bootsy's one of those guys that really needs that type of motivation,
It certainly didn't take Thornton long to get into the act Saturday. Thornton drained two quick three-pointers, including one while being fouled by Jason Williams, to get the Red Storm rolling early. Even though he missed all four of his attempts from the charity stripe in the first half, Thornton led all scorers with 13 points at the break.
But Thornton did more than just score yesterday. The Baltimore native crashed the boards with abandon against the bigger Blue Devils. In addition to his game-high 22 points, Thornton hauled down a game-high 11 rebounds to boot.
"I just wanted to win," Thornton said. "If it takes me down there to get some rebounds, that's what it takes. That's what coach asked everybody to do, go down there and rebound, and that's what we did tonight."
Fitting on a night when the Red Storm cleaned up the offensive glass, the game-winner came after a St. John's miss. Erick Barkley ran down Lavor Postell's errant shot at the top of the key and found Thornton, who was more than happy to put the final dagger into the Blue Devils.
"I took down the long rebound, and I saw that he had his feet set," Barkley said. "As soon as it left his hand, I knew it was good. Because he hits that shot nine times out of 10 in practice when he has his feet set and he's by himself.
"I don't think Duke wants to see him again."
And to that, Mike Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils say a resounding "Amen!!"
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