St. John’s University Men’s Basketball. Photo by: Stacy Podelski
St. John’s returns to Carnesecca Arena on Wednesday when the Red Storm hosts DePaul at 9 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. The Red Storm boasts a 7-1 record in Queens this season and looks for its fourth-straight home win against BIG EAST competition. Rich Waltz and Doug Gottlieb will call the action on the national telecast with Jon Rothstein reporting from the sideline. The St. John’s radio broadcast with John Minko and Brandon Tierney can be heard on 570 AM (WMCA).
St. John’s (15-8, 4-6) is coming off an 18-point victory over Creighton on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. There were several bright spots for the Red Storm in the wire-to-wire triumph. Rysheed Jordan exploded for a career-high 25 points with six 3-pointers, while D’Angelo Harrison recorded his second double-double (21 points, 10 rebounds) of the season. Harrison hit all nine free-throw attempts to anchor an 11-of-13 (84.6 percent) effort from the charity stripe.
The Red Storm rushed out to a 10-point lead less than five minutes into the contest and maintained a double-digit advantage the rest of the way. St. John’s shot a sweltering 66.7 percent (22-of-33) in a 52-point first half.
Sir’Dominic Pointer had 10 points, a career-high eight blocks and seven rebounds. It was his eighth straight game scoring in double-figures. The senior from Detroit earned his third-straight BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll recognition on Monday.
Entering Wednesday’s contest, the Red Storm has held opponents to 58.8 points per game and a 35.3 field goal shooting percentage in Queens. In order to avenge a four-point overtime setback to the Blue Demons on Jan. 18, St. John’s will need to limit Billy Garrett, Jr., the BIG EAST’s 10th leading scorer (13.2) who ranks fifth in assists (3.9). The sophomore guard led DePaul (12-13, 6-6) with 20 points, shooting 13-for-13 at the free-throw line, in the first meeting in Rosemont, Ill.
Things To Know
- D’Angelo Harrison has scored double-figures in 12-straight games and 22 times in 23 contests this season. He had 21 points on 5-of-8 shooting and buried all nine free-throw attempts in Saturday’s win over Creighton. It marked Harrison’s 50th career 20-point peformance and the 100th game he scored double-figures. Harrison is 27th in BIG EAST history with 1,053 points in conference play. He is within nine points of entering the top-25. In 61 career BIG EAST contests, Harrison has averaged 17.3 per game. He has started 79 consecutive appearances for the Red Storm.
- Sir’Dominic Pointer swatted a career-high eight shots on Saturday versus Creighton. He joined Chris Obekpa as the only players in program history to recorded eight or more blocks in a game. He also matched Obekpa (8 vs. LIU Brooklyn) for the highest single-game total in the BIG EAST this season, and tied for eighth in the nation.
- Rysheed Jordan has scored double-figures in seven of the last eight games, which includes his career-high 25-point performance in Saturday’s win over Creighton at Madison Square Garden. Jordan played only seven minutes in the Red Storm’s first meeting with Creighton on Jan. 28 before leaving the contest with an injury. Excluding his brief appearance versus the Bluejays, the sophomore guard has averaged 17.6 points shooting 48.8 percent (42-of-86) from the field and 46.4 percent (13-of-28) from downtown to go with 3.4 assists in his last seven full games.
- St. John’s shot 56.4 percent (31-of-55) in an 84-66 win against Creighton (Feb. 7), a performance that marked both the Red Storm’s second-highest field goal percentage and second-highest point total of the season. The Red Storm shot 66.7 percent (22-of-33) in the first half, the highest percentage in a half since a 68.0 percent (17-of-25) effort against Georgetown on Feb. 16, 2014. The 22 made field goals in the opening stanza were also the most in a half since the squad also converted 22 baskets against Providence on Feb. 4, 2014.
- St. John’s is 13-0 when holding teams to fewer than 70 points. In the last three BIG EAST home games at Madison Square Garden, the Red Storm has allowed only 63.0 points per game and held its opponents to a combined 36.3 field goal shooting percentage. The Johnnies are 13-1 when limiting opponents to a sub 40 percent shooting mark.
About the Series
- St. John’s leads the series with DePaul 18-16 and has a 10-5 advantage against the Blue Demons in BIG EAST contests.
- The Red Storm has won nine of the last 11 meetings with DePaul dating back to 2009. St. John’s is 8-2 versus DePaul during the Steve Lavin Era.
- St. John’s has won five-straight home games against the Blue Demons, including a 72-64 victory in the last contest at Madison Square Garden on March 2, 2014.
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