Phil Greene IV. Photo by: Stacy Podelski/1495 Sports
One of the hottest teams in the BIG EAST, St. John’s rides a three-game win streak into the Verizon Center on Tuesday where it will square off with Georgetown (16-8, 8-5) at 7 p.m. on FOX Sports 1. Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery are on the call for the 102nd meeting between the long-time BIG EAST rivals.
St. John’s (17-8, 6-6) has won four of its last five contests and now stands nine games over .500 with six to play in the regular-season. The Red Storm’s 17-wins through 25 games are the most since 1999-2000. The Johnnies are coming off a 78-70 victory against Xavier at the Cintas Center on Saturday. Sir’Dominic Pointer poured in a career-high 24 points (9-of-10 FG, 6-of-6 FT), five rebounds, four steals and two blocks. The Red Storm had four players put up double-digits in the scoring column and shot over 50.0 percent from the field for the third straight game.
The Red Storm looks to add another road victory to its resume Tuesday in the nation’s capital and snap a nine-game home win streak the Hoyas have built in the series. St. John’s has already proved it can step up to the challenge in hostile road environments. The Red Storm is only the second team to defeat Xavier at the Cintas Center this season and handed Providence one of its three losses at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. St. John’s also ended Syracuse’s 55-game non-conference home win streak on Dec. 6. No. 5 Duke and Miami are the only other teams to leave the Carrier Dome with a victory in 2014-15.
Things To Know
- The Red Storm is off to another strong start to February with a 3-1 record. Historically, St. John’s has elevated its play this month under Steve Lavin accumulating an 18-8 overall record (.750). The Red Storm went 7-1 in 2010-11 en route to a 21-win season and NCAA Tournament berth. Last year, the Johnnies posted a 6-2 record in February and won eight of the final 10 regular-season contests. Lavin has a 53-28 (.654) career record in February over his 12 seasons as head coach at St. John’s and UCLA.
- St. John’s leads the BIG EAST averaging 73.1 points and shooting 45.6 percent in conference action. The Red Storm is second in free-throw shooting (73.4 pct) and 3-point shooting (37.8 pct). The Johnnies are 8-0 when scoring 75 points or more this season.
- The Red Storm has averaged an 11.4-point margin of victory and 82.7 points per game in its last three wins. St. John’s shooting numbers ballooned to 53.4 (87-163) field goal percentage, 49.1 (26-53) 3-point field goal percentage and 78.7 (48-61) free-throw percentage. D’Angelo Harrison (24.0 ppg), Sir’Dominic Pointer (16.3 ppg), Rysheed Jordan (16.0 ppg) and Phil Greene IV (15.3 ppg) have accounted for 86.7 percent of St. John’s scoring during the active win streak.
- St. John’s began the season with an 11-1 record marking the program’s best start since 1985-86. It also topped the chart for Steve Lavin’s 11-year career as a head coach. The Red Storm won seven straight games in December capped with its largest victory of the season defeating Tulane by 25 points on Dec. 28 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was the longest win streak for the program since 1999-2000 when St. John’s reeled off eight consecutive victories as part of a 25-win campaign.
- Sir’Dominic Pointer filled up the stat sheet in two games last week with 19.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.5 blocks and 2.5 steals. He shot 72.7 percent (16-of-22) from the field and 87.5 percent (7-of-8) at the free-throw line. Pointer recorded his sixth double-double (15 points, 11 rebounds) in Wednesday’s win over DePaul and had five blocks. Then on Saturday, he had a near perfect all-around performance at Xavier. He matched a career-high 24 points (9-of-10 FG), grabbed five rebounds, made four steals and blocked two shots.
About the Series
- St. John’s has a 54-47 advantage in the series with Georgetown. The teams will meet for the 102ndtime in a rivalry that began in 1909.
- The Hoyas are St. John’s third most frequently played opponent in program history (Villanova-110 & Providence-105).
- St. John’s snapped Georgetown’s six-game win streak in the series with an 82-60 rout of the Hoyas in the last meeting on Feb. 16 at Madison Square Garden. D’Angelo Harrison and Rysheed Jordan each scored 24 points to pace the Red Storm.
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