St. John’s Men’s Basketball Team Huddle. Photo by: Stacy Podelski/1495Sports
The St. John’s Men’s Basketball team will attempt to snap a three-game skid when it welcomes longtime BIG EAST rival Georgetown to Carnesecca Arena on Sunday night.
The game, scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start, will air live on FS1 and 570 AM/102.3 FM WMCA. Dave Sims and Sarah Kustok will call the game on FS1 while John Minko and Brandon Tierney will handle broadcasting duties on the radio. The Learfield-IMG College Red Storm Sports Network radio broadcast will also be available through TuneIn Radio, as well as SiriusXM channel 388 and streamed through channel 978.
The matchup will be the second in just one week between St. John’s and Georgetown, as the two teams met last Sunday night in D.C. in a game that was added just days before because of COVID concerns within other BIG EAST programs. The Red Storm (5-4, 0-3 BIG EAST) held a seven-point lead with less than three minutes to play in regulation, but the Hoyas (3-3, 1-1 BIG EAST) managed to take a brief lead before the Johnnies forced overtime on a buzzer-beating layup from Greg Williams Jr. St. John’s also held a four-point advantage in the extra period before an 8-1 Hoyas run.
The meeting will be the 118th all-time played between the two charter BIG EAST members and the first contested on campus in Queens since the 1980-81 season. Last Sunday’s matchup was the first played at Georgetown’s McDonough Arena since 1981 as well. The rivalry games have been held at larger, off-campus venues since the 1981-82 campaign, which coincidentally saw the introduction of a few future Hall of Famers, Chris Mullin and Hoyas Head Coach Patrick Ewing, to the series history. Georgetown is the second most frequently played opponent in St. John’s history, trailing only Villanova (122).
The Hoyas have not played since that meeting with the Johnnies last Sunday, but the Red Storm will look to shake off a Thursday loss to ninth-ranked Creighton at Carnesecca Arena. After trailing by as many as 16 near the midway mark of the first half, the Red Storm managed to narrow the deficit and pull within two points on three separate occasions during the second stanza. The Bluejays, however, used a lethal three-point barrage to help spark a decisive 22-4 run that all but put the game out of reach.
Julian Champagnie, the BIG EAST’s leading scorer at 20.3 points per game, logged a team-high 17 points thanks in large part to a 5-of-8 effort from three-point range. The sophomore from Brooklyn also pulled down a team-high five boards.
Against the Hoyas last week, Champagnie netted 13 points and matched a career-high with 12 boards for his third double-double of the season. Champagnie was one of two Johnnies to drop a double-double in D.C., as Isaih Moore had a breakout performance with 26 points and 14 boards, both of which shattered his previous career highs. His 14 rebounds were the most by a St. John’s player since the 2017-18 season, when Tariq Owens grabbed 14 at Seton Hall in the BIG EAST opener.
Moore and Champagnie were two of the five Johnnies to finish in double figures the last time these two teams met. Posh Alexander posted 16 points while Williams added 13 and Marcellus Earlington chipped in 10. Alexander and Williams each recorded six assists and just one turnover.
Four Hoyas scored 17 or more points last Sunday, led by freshman Dante Harris’ 22-point showing. The evening’s most impressive all-around effort came from sophomore Qudus Wahab, who fell just short of a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine blocks.
Georgetown has won its last four regular season meetings against St. John’s dating back to January of 2019. The Red Storm, however, is not without a victory during that stretch, as the Johnnies downed Georgetown, 75-62, in last year’s BIG EAST Tournament opener after closing the game on a 23-0 run.
After taking on the Hoyas, the Red Storm is currently scheduled to have off until Jan. 2 following the postponement of its Dec. 30 game at Villanova.
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