St. John's University Athletics
St. John??' Announces 2006-07 Men??' Basketball Schedule
9/7/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nationally televised BIG EAST matchups, an appearance in the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer and a late-season showdown with perennial powerhouse Duke at Madison Square Garden highlight what will be an exciting season on the hardwood for St. John???s basketball. Head coach Norm Roberts??? ever-improving squad could play as many as 21 contests on its home floor ??? including 10 at Carnesecca Arena and 11 at The Garden ??? and will hit the road for several key conference road games in the second season of the expanded BIG EAST Conference.
The BIG EAST released a composite schedule of its 16 member schools on Thursday, which includes opponents, dates and national television information. St. John???s regional television matchups, game times and radio information will be released at a later date.
???We are looking forward to another exciting year, where we will be playing an extremely competitive schedule against some of the top teams in America,??? said Roberts. ???We feel good about having at least four of our games on national television ??? that shows how much our program is continuing to improve each year.???
The Red Storm returns five starters, 11 letterwinners and 92.3 percent of its scoring from a season ago. Roberts adds five talented newcomers ??? a class that has received a Top 5 rating from recruiting publications ??? to a cast of seasoned veterans that includes preseason honors candidates Lamont Hamilton (12.6 points per game, 7.6 rebounds per game), Daryll Hill (12.3 ppg), Eugene Lawrence (9.3 ppg, 4.9 assists per game) and Anthony Mason Jr. (8.4 ppg). The squad will tune up with an exhibition contest against local NCAA Division II squad St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday, Nov. 4, at Carnesecca Arena.
St. John???s opens the regular season by hosting the New York Regional Round of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic at Carnesecca Arena in Queens, Nov. 10-11. The Red Storm faces North Florida in the first round on Friday, and would advance to meet Loyola (Md.) or Navy on Saturday with a win. The regional winner earns a trip to The Garden for the semifinal and championship rounds, which will be aired nationally on ESPN2 Nov. 16-17.
Following the season-opening event, the Red Storm returns home for four non-conference contests at Carnesecca Arena. St. John???s plays host to Illinois State (Nov. 25, 7:30 p.m.), LIU (Nov. 28, 7:30 p.m.), UMBC (Dec. 1, 7:30 p.m.) and St. Francis (N.Y.) (Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m.) before traveling to Niagara for a Dec. 9 tilt at Gallagher Arena. Local squads NJIT (Dec. 21, 7:30 p.m.) and Columbia (Dec. 23, 7:30 p.m.) visit Queens before the Red Storm takes a brief respite for the Christmas Holiday.
Winners of the 2004 and 2005 Holiday Festivals, St. John???s looks to defend its crown in the 2006 version of the classic event at Madison Square Garden, presented by Aeropostale. The Red Storm meets Boston University on Dec. 28, following a matchup between St. Joseph???s and Hofstra. The winners meet for the championship on Dec. 29.
BIG EAST conference play gets underway after the New Year, and opens when the Red Storm faces DePaul (Jan. 3) at The Garden. St. John???s then hits the road to take on West Virginia (Jan. 6) before a nationally televised game against Seton Hall (Jan. 11, ESPN2, 7 p.m.) at Continental Airlines Arena.
Three of the next four games take place at the World???s Most Famous Arena. Following a matchup against UConn at The Garden on Jan. 13, the Red Storm travels to DePaul (Jan. 16) before playing host to Syracuse (Jan. 21) and Notre Dame (Jan. 23).
St. John???s meets Pittsburgh (Jan. 27) on the road, and a nationally televised contest at The Garden against Georgetown (Feb. 1) awaits as the calendar turns to February. St. John???s visits Cincinnati???s Fifth Third Arena on Feb. 4 before playing host to South Florida at Carnesecca Arena on Feb. 7. The Red Storm heads upstate to meet Syracuse at the Carrier Dome on Feb. 11, and returns to its home campus for a matchup with Rutgers on Feb. 15.
The Red Storm begins its home-and-away series with Providence at the Dunkin??? Donuts Center on Feb. 17, and plays another road contest on national television when St. John???s visits Louisville???s Freedom Hall on Feb. 21 (ESPN2, 7 p.m.).
The Duke Blue Devils come to The Garden on Feb. 25 for a 2 p.m. nationally-televised game on CBS. This will be the ninth-straight season in which the two squads have met.
St. John???s will honor the careers of its seniors in a celebration at The Garden on Sunday, March 4, when the Red Storm takes on Providence in the final game of the regular season.
The BIG EAST Championship Tournament will take place at the Garden from March 7-10, marking the 25th consecutive year for the event at The World???s Most Famous Arena.
In all, St. John???s could play 15 regular-season games against teams that participated in postseason tournaments in 2005-06 (NCAA ??? Duke, Syracuse, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Michigan State, Seton Hall and Georgetown; NIT ??? Maryland, Rutgers, Notre Dame, Louisville, Cincinnati, St. Joseph???s, Hofstra).
For ticket information, schedules, scores and highlights for all St. John???s games, visit the Red Storm on the Internet at www.redstormsports.com. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling the St. John???s Ticket Office at 1-888-GO-STORM.
