NEW YORK (AP) -- Even Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien thought St. John's had this one locked up.

With his Buckeyes trailing St. John's by 10 points with 2:48 to play, O'Brien was thinking just what the rest of the crowd of 15,164 at Madison Square Garden was.

	Ohio State's Slobodan Savovic drives to the hoop.

"Privately, I didn't think we could do it," he said. "I thought it was one of those games where we just couldn't get anything done."

The Buckeyes (No. 15 ESPN/USA Today, No. 13 AP) turned up the defense, got some offense from a struggling Michael Redd and blocked two shots over the final four seconds as they scored the game's final 11 points for a 65-64 victory over St. John's (No. 23 ESPN/USA Today, No. 19 AP) on Saturday.

"This was absolutely an incredible win for us," O'Brien said. "For 38 minutes we had no right winning the game and for the last two we had every right. This was not one of our better performances, but the kids refused to fold up and go away."

The Buckeyes (13-3) trailed 64-54 with 2:48 left when Bootsy Thornton hit a 3-pointer for St. John's (12-4).

Ohio State then forced turnovers on the Red Storm's next three possessions and the defense only intensified over the final seconds as St. John's last two shots were blocked -- a move down low by Anthony Glover with four seconds left by Ken Johnson and a 3-point attempt by Erick Barkley at the buzzer by Scoonie Penn.

"What happened was we allowed Ohio State to hang around and be in a position for players like Redd and Penn to do what they do best," St. John's coach Mike Jarvis said. "We paid the price for not taking care of the ball when we had to."

Redd, who came into the game averaging 15.1 points per game, struggled offensively as St. John's seemed to take control of the rematch of last season's NCAA Tournament regional final that was won by 77-74 by the Buckeyes.

Redd finally got untracked in the final minutes and his 3-pointer with 1:15 left brought Ohio State within 64-63. St. John's then missed three consecutive shots.

The Buckeyes got the ball back with 34 seconds to play and Penn was fouled with 23 seconds left. He made two free throws for the final margin and set the stage for Ohio State's impressive closing defensive stance.

"I wanted the ball when we were down one," Penn said. "I want to be the man on the spot."

That's where O'Brien wanted him as well.

"Not for one second did I think he wasn't making those free throws," O'Brien said. "Then he made an incredible block on Erick."

Glover's shot was blocked by Johnson, the nation's leading shot-blocker at five per game who finished with a school-record 11. The ball bounced free and Barkley, who ended last season's meeting with a turnover, had his shot blocked by Penn.

"There was no contact," said Barkley, who finished with 15 points. "I knew it was down to a couple of seconds so I had no choice. I tried to get it up as quick as possible."

O'Brien said he told his team to make sure Barkley didn't beat them off the dribble.

"I have a lot of respect for Erick. I knew he'd be getting the last shot," Penn said. "I guarded him close because I knew what to expect."

Penn and Brian Brown each had 16 points for Ohio State, which has won five straight, including a win over Michigan State on Thursday.

"We never mentioned the Michigan State game (Friday) and today because we didn't want any excuses about being tired," O'Brien said.

Thornton finished with a season-high 28 points for the Red Storm and was 6-for-8 from 3-point range. He scored St. John's final 11 points of the game, including consecutive 3-pointers with 3:38 and 2:48 remaining.

"Every time we lose it's tough," Thornton said. "We had the game the whole way and then we helped them make the plays."

St. John's was coming in off a 78-70 loss to Seton Hall that followed a win at Connecticut last Sunday.

St. John's finished 21-for-71 from the field (29.6 percent) and except for Thornton was 2-for-10 from 3-point range.

When the game ended the Ohio State team and coaches celebrated on the court jumping in a circle for a while.

"This game wasn't to that level," O'Brien said when asked if the celebration was like the one after beating St. John's in Knoxville, Tenn. last March. "This was just the euphoria of a win on national television, at a place like Madison Square Garden and over one of the best teams in the country."