The St John’s Men’s Basketball Huddle. Photo by: Stacy Podelski/1495 Sports
No. 20/23 St. John’s completes a four-game home stretch Monday in Queens when it hosts Long Beach State (5-7) at 7:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. The Red Storm has won five straight contests and is 6-0 at Carnesecca Arena this season. Dave Ryan, Bob Wenzel and sideline reporter Jon Rothstein will call the action for the national telecast, while St. John’s radio team John Minko and Brandon Tierney can be heard on 970 AM (WNYM).
Off to the program’s best start in six years, St. John’s improved to 9-1 on Friday with a grueling 53-47 victory over Saint Mary’s. The Red Storm erased a 15-point halftime deficit and outscored the Gaels 35-14 in the final 20 minutes to earn its 13th straight non-conference regular-season win at Carnesecca Arena.
D’Angelo Harrison led St. John’s with 21 points marking his fourth straight 20-point effort. The two-time BIG EAST Player of the Week this season, who leads the conference in scoring, now ranks in the top-25 nationally with 19.8 points per game. Sir’Dominic Pointer complemented Harrison’s performance by taking over the second half and finished with his second double-double of the season. Pointer scored all 11 of his points and shot 4-for-4 after halftime. He recorded team-highs in rebounding (11), assists (5) and blocks (2).
St. John’s looks to defend its home court again on Monday in its first meeting all-time with Long Beach State. The Red Storm has gone 21-3 (.873) over the last three years at Carnesecca Arena. This season, St. John’s boasts a 14.3-point margin of victory in its six wins in Queens.
Things To Know
- St. John’s has won five straight games and is undefeated in December. The current win streak matches the Red Storm’s second longest stretch of consecutive victories in the last two seasons. In 2013-14, St. John’s won its first six games in February against BIG EAST competition. Since that streak, the Red Storm has gone 17-3 in its last 20 regular-season games.
- Over the recent five game win streak, St. John’s has held opponents to 53.2 points per game and a 35.7 field goal shooting percentage. In Friday’s victory over Saint Mary’s, the Red Storm held the Gaels to 47 points, which were the fewest St. John’s has allowed in a contest dating back to Nov. 26, 2013 in a win over Longwood (65-47). D’Angelo Harrison has averaged 21.8 points (52.2 FG%, 35-of-67 FG) during the win streak, hitting a team-high 11 3-pointers and going 28-of-32 (87.5) from the free-throw line. Harrison was named BIG EAST Player of the Week on Dec. 8 and Dec. 15.
- D’Angelo Harrison moved into sixth place on St. John’s career scoring list with his 22-point performance versus Fordham on Dec. 14. Harrison is the third active leading scorer in NCAA Division I with 1,799 points over his four year career at St. John’s. He is 11 points away from matching Zendon Hamilton (1,810 points – 1994-98) for fifth place on the all-time list.
- The Red Storm is the top rebounding team in the BIG EAST averaging 39.6 boards per contest. Three St. John’s players rank in the top-10 of the conference in rebounding. Chris Obekpa is third with 8.9 per contest and Sir’Dominic Pointer is fourth with an 8.0 average, while D’Angelo Harrison is eighth with 6.6 per game. The Red Storm is also 14th in the nation averaging 28.7 defensive rebounds.
- Sir’Dominic Pointer continued his second half dominance on Friday scoring all 11 points, grabbing seven of his 11 boards and dishing out three of his team-high five assists in the final 20 minutes. Pointer has played his best basketball in the second stanza this season averaging 7.4 of his 10.3 points and shooting a sweltering 78.4 percent (29-of-37 field goals) after halftime. Pointer is coming off his second double-double of the year and seventh in his career. He ranks in the top-10 of the BIG EAST in rebounding (8.0), field goal percentage (.594), steals (2.2), blocks (1.7), minutes played (31.5) and he leads the league in defensive rebounding (6.4).
About the Series
- St. John’s takes on Long Beach State for the first time in program history.
- The Red Storm has history with two of the nine current members of the Big West Conference. St. John’s is 5-0 all-time versus Hawaii and dropped its lone contest with UC Irvine.
- St. John’s most recent meeting with a member of the Big West was on Dec. 21, 2007 when the Red Storm defeated Hawaii 68-62 in Honolulu at the 44th Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic. Anthony Mason, Jr. had a game-high 17 points (6-of-8 FG).
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