St. John’s MBB Hosts No. 5/6 Duke Sunday at Madison Square Garden

Sir’Dominic Pointer, Photo by: Stacy Podelski/1495 Sports

The St. John’s Men’s Basketball team returns to “The World’s Most Famous Arena” on Sunday afternoon to host No. 5/6 Duke (16-2) at 2 p.m. on FOX. Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson have the call for the national telecast with Molly McGrath sideline reporting. St. John’s radio broadcast will air on 570 AM (WMCA).

St. John’s (13-5) had four players reach double-figures in a 60-57 triumph against Marquette on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. The Red Storm has posted an 8-3 mark in its last 11 regular season contests at MSG. St. John’s is 3-2 at The Garden this season, including wins against Minnesota in the NIT Season Tip-Off and against Fordham in the MSG Holiday Festival.

The Red Storm is off to its best record through 18 games since 1999-2000. St. John’s also has a history of elevating its level of play late in the regular season during head coach Steve Lavin’s full seasons in Queens. St. John’s won eight of its last 10 regular-season contests in 2013-14. Including this season, the Red Storm has posted a 29-17 (.630) overall record in games played from Jan. 15 through the end of the regular season under Lavin.

St. John’s and Duke meet for the first time since Jan. 28, 2012, an 83-76 victory for the Blue Devils in Durham, N.C. The Red Storm defeated then-No. 3/3 Duke, 93-78, in the most-recent MSG meeting on Jan. 30, 2011.

Things To Know

St. John’s has won two of its last three contests using the strong play of seniors Sir’Dominic Pointer and Phil Greene IV. Pointer has elevated his scoring average by 3.0 points during this stretch to 14.3 points per game to go along with team-highs 3.67 assists, 2.67 blocks, and has hit 15-of-20 free-throws (75.0 percent). Greene IV (16.0) is the second leading scorer in the last three contests behind Rysheed Jordan (16.3) and has shot 45.9 percent (17-37) from the field and 41.2% (7-of-17) from long range. The Chicago native has scored double-digits in six consecutive games and seven of the last eight contests.

Three current Red Storm players took the court as freshmen when St. John’s last played Duke on Jan. 28, 2012. D’Angelo Harrison shot 8-of-17 from the floor, including 3-of-8 from downtown, and had 21 points. Phil Greene IV added nine points and Sir’Dominic Pointer finished with two points, four rebounds and three steals. Fast forward three years and a combined 340 career appearances, the veteran trio has collectively scored 3,819 points, pulled down 1,366 rebounds and dished out 734 assists entering their second meeting with Duke.

In its three wins at Madison Square Garden this season, St. John’s has held opponents to 57.0 points, a 35.3 field goal shooting percentage and a 28.4 3-point shooting percentage. Rysheed Jordan has led the Red Storm with 19.0 points, shooting 51.4 percent from the field to go along with 3.0 steals in St. John’s three wins at The Garden. On Dec. 14, Jordan exploded for a career-high 24 points shooting 9-of-12 (75.0 FG pct), including a 3-for-5 from 3-point territory, to lead St. John’s to a 21-point win over Fordham.

Sir’Dominic Pointer registered his third double-double of the season with a 15-point, 12-rebound effort against Marquette (Jan. 21). The senior swingman previously posted 11 points and 11 rebounds against Saint Mary’s (Dec. 19), and 13 points and 10 boards against NJIT (Nov. 14). St. John’s won all three of those games and has gone 8-1 when Pointer scores in double-figures.

In his last three starts, Rysheed Jordan has averaged a team-high 16.3 points shooting 48.5 percent (16-of-33) from the field to go along with team-highs 3.0 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Jordan manufactured 28.6 percent of his 49 points during this stretch at the free-throw line hitting14 of his last 18 attempts (77.8 percent). The sophomore guard has scored in double-figures five of the last six contests and 12 times in 16 appearances this season. Jordan currently leads the BIG EAST averaging 2.2 steals in conference games.

About the Series

St. John’s and Duke will meet for the 22nd time on Sunday. The Blue Devils hold a 15-6 advantage all-time over the Red Storm.

St. John’s earned a 93-78 victory over the third-ranked Blue Devils in their last meeting at Madison Square Garden before a sellout crowd of 19,353 on Jan. 30, 2011. Dwight Hardy led St. John’s with 26 points, Justin Brownlee had 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists and Paris Horne registered 15 points and six assists.

St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin is 2-3 in his career versus Duke, including a 2-0 mark in home games. Prior to guiding the Red Storm to 15-point win on Jan. 30, 2011, Lavin picked up his first win against the Blue Devils at age 32 on Feb. 23, 1997 in his first year at UCLA.

Duke took the last meeting between the programs at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Jan. 28, 2012. Moe Harkless led St. John’s with 30 points and 13 rebounds, while D’Angelo Harrison added 21 points.

1495 Sports is proud to bring the following videos:

Featuring:

D’Angelo Harrison and Sir’Dominic Pointer