St. John’s treated their fans to an early show on Super Bowl Sunday, surviving and second-half charge en route to an 65-48 victory over the South Florida Bulls.

After taking a 28-22 lead in the first half, the Red Storm allowed two quick USF baskets as the Bulls pulled within one. With both teams struggling to find their shot, the Bulls took a 40-38 lead on a three-pointer from Justin Leemow with 12:57 to play. Rob Thomas tied the game at 40 with on a layup 30 seconds later.

From there, both teams traded misses for the next five minutes.

“It was an ugly game,” Storm Coach Norm Roberts said.

Paris Horne broke the tie on a layup with 7:24 to play, which sparked a 16-2 Red Storm run.

Horne lead the Storm in scoring with 19 points. Malik Boothe, making his return after missing 9 games with an injured thumb, had 5 points and 3 assists in the game. With the win, the Storm move to 11-9 on the season, and 3-6 in the Big East. St. John’s will be in action tonight when they travel to play Seton Hall at 9pm.