After a thrilling victory against No. 24/21 Creighton on Sunday, Feburary 16, the Red Storm go on the road for a meeting againt another Nationally Ranked team in DePaul.
Thus far St. John’s has themselves a 22-4 overall record a 13-2 BIG EAST Conference mark, a ranking of No. 9/8 and in another impressive fact was able to gain a victory against a top-25 opponent in the last 12 days.
There are a ton of interesting facts from the folks at the St. John’s Athletics department including the fact that the University was able to notch the 13th victory in the BIG EAST Conference, and that marks the program’s highest total since it went 14-4 in 1998-99.
One of the trends that is talked about he most is the team’s defense and thus far the guys are ranked 11th in the country in turnover margin with an incredible stat of plus -4.6.
As for the offense there are a ton of names that would make for great feature stories including Kadary Richmond as he has 14.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.6 steals per game in 2025.
RJ Luis continues to make highlight reels with his eighth 20-plus performance of the season with the latest game against Creighton having him score 23 points and grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds.
One of the names the team is expecting and hoping to lead the way is Deivon Smith, as the Senior Guard took the time to interact with member of the media via Zoom on Tuesday.
Returning from an injury it is going to take a bit for Smith to regain the momentum.
The senior had this to say on the process leading up to playing against Creighton:
“Even the practice leading up to Sunday, I felt super comfortable. I was able to hit a lot of shots and just kind of get over that hump, like the mental part of just seeing a ball go in and feeling comfortable again. So, even before Sunday’s game, Saturday’s practice, I had a really, really good practice for my first time practicing since sometime after that UConn game. I was just super comfortable and I was able to see some shots go in and feel good.”
With their being an extra tough BIG EAST Conference schedule there is going to be focus and that is something that Deivon talked about by saying:
“Each and every game we play, [Coach Pitino] tells us it’s the biggest game of the season, just because we do have the target on our back being in that number one spot. So, we’re going to get each and everybody’s best shot because beating us can change the narrative for a lot of teams.”
He also reflected on being able to play against DePaul by saying:
“I had a really great practice. I texted Coach Pitino when I was ruled out. I swear this is not a lie. He didn’t try to switch the narrative or try to gatekeep that I was playing. I texted him at the last minute that I wanted an individual workout, I wanted to try to practice, and I wanted to see how [my shoulder] felt. I had a great [individual workout] and had a great practice. From there, it built on to the game. I just liked the bright lights of Madison Square Garden, so the rest kind of took care of itself.”
Getting to the rivarly against DePaul, St. John’s fares well when it comes time for playing against the Blue Demons, as thus far the Red Storm have won six consecutive meetings.
In the most recent meeting between the two schools, St. John’s was able to gain a 89-61 victory at Carnesecca Arena.
Now we start the countdown to this epic clash between these two Nationally Ranked teams. As it is going to be St. John’s goign up against DePaul and that is to happen on Wednesday, Feburary 19 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The game is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. with the action airing on the FS1 Network.
For more information on the St. John’s Athletics Department fans are encouraged to click on the link see here:
St. John’s University Athletics – Official Athletics Website