The St John’s Men’s Basketball Huddle. Photo by: Stacy Podelski/1495 Sports
Coming off a seven day layoff, the St. John’s men’s basketball team returns to action Wednesday when the Red Storm travels to Providence for a 7 p.m. contest at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. St. John’s boasts an 11-4 overall record, its best mark through 15 games dating back to 1999-2000, and looks to pick up its first BIG EAST victory of the year.
A national telecast will air on FOX Sports 1 with announcers Dick Stockton and Vin Parise. The St. John’s radio broadcast can be heard on 970 AM (WNYM).
St. John’s heads to Providence standing 2-1 in games away from home this season, which includes the Red Storm’s 69-57 victory at Syracuse on Dec. 6. Dating back to 2013-14, St. John’s has won five of its last seven games either on the road or in a neutral venue.
The Red Storm came away with an 86-76 victory over Providence in their last meeting at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center on Feb. 4, 2014. D’Angelo Harrison led the way with 22 points and Rysheed Jordan added 18 points, while Chris Obekpa contributed 10 points and three blocks.
Harrison was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday after scoring a game-high 25 points and shooting 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from the field against No. 8 Villanova at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. It was his third-straight 25+ point performance and the ninth time Harrison has gone over the 20-point mark this season.
The 6-foot-4 senior guard has earned a weekly award from the conference in six of eight weeks this season, including a pair of BIG EAST Player of the Week honors on Dec. 8 & 15. Harrison enters Wednesday’s contest with the Friars 17 points shy of moving into third place on St. John’s career scoring list.
Phil Greene IV is also within reach of a career milestone on Wednesday standing 10 points away from becoming the 49th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Greene is averaging a career-best 11.8 points this season and 14.3 against BIG EAST competition.
Things To Know
- D’Angelo Harrison is coming off his 48th career 20+ point performance and is 17 points shy of tying Felipe Lopez (1994-98, 1,927) for third place on the St. John’s all-time scoring list. The 6-foot-4 senior guard has scored 1,910 points in his four years at St. John’s. Harrison is on track to join Chris Mullin (1981-85, 2,440) and Malik Sealy (1988-92, 2,402) as the third member of the program’s 2,000-point club. He is currently fourth among NCAA Division I active players in career scoring.
- St. John’s has committed fewer turnovers than its opponent in each of the last seven games. The Red Storm has averaged only 8.4 turnovers during this seven game stretch and boasts a +6.1 turnover margin. St. John’s is second in the BIG EAST and 24th in the nation this season with a +3.5 turnover margin. The Red Storm also leads the conference and is 19th in NCAA Division I giving up only 10.5 turnovers per game.
- Sir’Dominic Pointer continues to climb St. John’s career steals and blocks lists. He has joined Malik Sealy and George Johnson as the only St. John’s players to rank in the top-10 in both categories. Pointer currently stands eighth on the career steals list with 171, trailing Mark Jackson (1983-87, 174) who is seventh on the chart. Pointer’s 123 blocks are the sixth most all-time and he is seven shy of tying Johnson (1974-78, 130) for fifth place. Pointer is one of the most versatile players in the BIG EAST as he currently ranks top-10 in the conference in five statistical categories – rebounding (7.2), field goal shooting percentage (.533), steals (2.3), blocks (2.0) and assist-turnover ratio (2.0).
- D’Angelo Harrison has averaged a conference leading 27.0 points per game in BIG EAST contests. Averaging 38.7 minutes in league play, Harrison has shot 50.9 percent (27-of-53) from the field and 80.8 percent (21-of-26) at the free-throw line. Harrison is coming off his third straight 25+ point performance and fifth of the season, posting a game-high 25 points versus No. 8 Villanova on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. In 54 career BIG EAST appearances, Harrison has averaged 17.5 points and has 947 career points in conference action. He is 53 points shy of becoming the 38th player in BIG EAST history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
- St. John’s leads the BIG EAST in rebounding (36.9/game) and blocked shots (7.0/game). Chris Obekpa has anchored the Red Storm’s efforts in both statistical categories as he is the nation’s second leading shot blocker (3.87/game) and boasts the fourth highest rebounding average in the conference (8.1/game). Obekpa is the active career leader in NCAA Division I averaging 3.56 blocks in his three years at St. John’s. He has 109 blocks in 38 career BIG EAST games and is currently eighth in conference history averaging 2.9 against league opponents.
About the Series
- St. John’s is 58-45 all-time versus Providence.
- St. John’s and Providence meet for the 104th time in series history.
- Providence is St. John’s second most frequently played opponent.
- St. John’s has won three of the last five contests with Providence.
- The Red Storm’s last win in the series was on Feb. 4, 2014 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. St. John’s shot 61.1 percent and scored 53 points in the first half en route to an 86-76 victory.
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