St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Announces 2010-11 Men's Basketball Schedule
9/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sept. 17, 2010
- 2010-11 St. John's Men's Basketball Schedule | Printable Version (PDF)
- 2010-11 St. John's Men's Basketball Ticket Information
- "Inside St. John's Basketball" Online Video Guide
- Follow the Red Storm on Twitter
- BIG EAST Announces 2010-11 Men's Basketball Schedule
QUEENS, N.Y. - Eleven national television appearances, sixteen home dates, a daunting conference slate and non-league matchups that include defending national champion Duke, trips to UCLA and Saint Mary's, and a Thanksgiving visit to the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout highlight the 2010-11 St. John's men's basketball schedule.
The BIG EAST released a composite schedule of its 16 member schools on Friday, 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. All 2010-11 conference games are produced by ESPN and are guaranteed to air on regional networks in the New York area.
"Year-in and year-out, the BIG EAST Conference has consistently proven to be among the most competitive leagues in college basketball," said St. John's first-year head coach Steve Lavin. "In addition to our rugged BIG EAST schedule, we are looking forward to playing an extremely challenging non-conference slate, highlighted by matchups against defending national champion Duke, Pac-10 power UCLA and Saint Mary's."
Fans will get an early glance at Lavin's Red Storm on Saturday, Nov. 6, when St. John's takes on NAIA squad Westmont in an exhibition contest at Carnesecca Arena. The Warriors posted a 21-9 overall record in 2009-10, and a 13-7 mark in the Golden State Athletic Conference.
The Lavin Era officially begins on the road and on national television, as St. John's will take on 2010 NCAA Tournament participant Saint Mary's (Calif.) at the Gaels' home in Moraga, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 2 a.m. E.T. The matchup is the second game as part of ESPN's third annual College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon, which features 12 live college basketball games in 24 consecutive hours on the network.
"Opening our season at St. Mary's in a nationally-televised matchup on ESPN is an outstanding early-season test to gauge where we are as a team," said Lavin. "The Gaels return four starters from a team that went to the Sweet 16, and McKeon Pavilion is a hostile environment for opponents. A contest like this will pay great dividends in preparing our team for the rigors of the BIG EAST."
After facing the Gaels in a contest beginning late Monday night local time in California, St. John's will turn around quickly, returning to Queens to face Columbia on Wednesday, Nov. 17, in the Red Storm's Carnesecca Arena home opener.
After a brief respite, the Red Storm heads back west to participate in the 2010 Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout. St. John's open the eight-team double-elimination tournament on Wednesday, Nov. 24, against Ball State at 9:45 p.m. Alaskan time (1:45 a.m. E.T.). A win earns STJ a Friday meeting at 5:30 p.m. A.T. with the winner of the Southern Utah-Drake matchup, and a pair of wins gives the Red Storm a title game appearance - possibly against Arizona State - on Saturday, Nov. 27, at 8 p.m. A.T.
Along with the Red Storm and host Alaska Anchorage, Arizona State, Ball State, Drake, Houston Baptist, Southern Utah and Weber State will appear at UAA's Sullivan Arena for the 33rd annual college basketball tournament. Weber State - the defending Big Sky Conference regular-season champion - has replaced Southeastern Louisiana, which had been announced as a participant last fall.
After the team's Thanksgiving trip to the 49th state, the Red Storm returns home for a pair of contests in Queens. St. John's plays host to Wagner (Dec. 1) and St. Bonaventure (Dec. 7) before visiting local squad Fordham on Dec. 11. With 81 all-time meetings the Rams are St. John's eighth-most frequently-played opponent in history (STJ leads, 61-20), though the squads have not met at Rose Hill Gym since an 81-58 Red Storm victory on Dec. 7, 2002.
St. John's makes its 2010-11 Garden debut following the Fordham matchup, as the Red Storm looks to recapture the Holiday Festival crown in the third-straight pre-Christmas version of the classic event at Madison Square Garden, on Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 20-21. STJ meets Davidson on Dec. 20, following a matchup between Big Ten squad Northwestern and local St. Francis of the NEC. The Red Storm, which has claimed only two of the last six titles, looks to hoist the trophy on Dec. 21.
The BIG EAST season begins on the road, and before the New Year, with a matchup at West Virginia on Wednesday, Dec. 29. The Red Storm opens its conference slate with two-straight away games as STJ heads to Providence's Dunkin' Donuts Center on Saturday, Jan. 1, for a New Year's Day meeting with the Friars.
Next, St. John's makes a return to ESPN's Big Monday slate on Monday, Jan. 3 at 7 p.m., as longtime league rival Georgetown visits Madison Square Garden. The 7 p.m. matchup on ESPN2 is the first of two regular season meetings with the Hoyas, and the first of three-straight nationally-televised games for the Red Storm.
Two of the next three contests come against Notre Dame. A trip to South Bend for an 8 p.m. ESPNU matchup at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center tips things off on Saturday, Jan. 8, before the Red Storm returns to the Garden to meet Syracuse on Wednesday, Jan. 12 (7 p.m., ESPNU) as part of a doubleheader with St. John's nationally-ranked women's squad (vs. UConn, 9:30 p.m.). The Irish then visit "The World's Most Famous Arena" on Sunday, Jan. 16.
The Red Storm heads to Louisville's new KFC Yum! Center on Wednesday, Jan. 19, before playing host to Cincinnati at Carnesecca Arena on Saturday, Jan. 22, for the first of two season meetings with the Bearcats. St. John's second matchup with Georgetown comes on Wednesday, Jan. 26, at the Verizon Center in the nation's capital.
The defending national champion Duke Blue Devils visit college basketball's grandest stage on Sunday, Jan. 30. The nationally-televised 1 p.m. contest on CBS will mark the 13th-straight season in which the two squads have met, and precedes a Wednesday, Feb. 2, matchup against Rutgers at Carnesecca Arena.
The Red Storm heads west for the third time in 2010-11 when St. John's takes on Lavin's former squad, UCLA, at venerable Pauley Pavilion on Saturday, Feb. 5, at 1 p.m. on CBS. As the head coach at UCLA from the 1996-97 to 2002-03 seasons, Lavin amassed a career record of 145-78, guided UCLA to six consecutive seasons of 21 wins or more, and led the Bruins to six consecutive NCAA tournaments (1996-2002).
Following a nationally-televised Madison Square Garden matchup against the Connecticut Huskies on Thursday, Feb. 10 (ESPN/ESPN2, 7 p.m.), the Red Storm hits the road for two-straight BIG EAST games. St. John's heads to Cincinnati for the second half of the home-and-home series on Sunday, Feb. 13, and meets Marquette at the Bradley Center on Tuesday, Feb. 15 for a post-Valentine's Day tilt on ESPNU at 9 p.m.
St. John's finishes its regular-season schedule with three of its final five contests at home. The Red Storm faces Pitt on Saturday, Feb. 19 at noon on ESPN in the regular-season finale at The Garden before playing host to its fellow Catholic, Vincentian, metropolitan BIG EAST foe, DePaul, on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at Carnesecca Arena.
The final two road games will be played on national television, beginning with a 2 p.m. ESPN matchup at Villanova's Wells Fargo Center on Saturday, Feb. 26. A short trip to Newark, N.J., to Seton Hall's Prudential Center follows on Thursday, March 3, for a 7 p.m. meeting that will air on ESPN/ESPN2.
The regular season comes to an end at Carnesecca Arena on Saturday, March 5, as USF comes to Queens. Before the matchup, the nation's most-veteran team will honor its 10 seniors.
The 16-team BIG EAST Championship Tournament takes place at the World's Most Famous Arena from Tuesday, March 8, to Saturday, March 12.
In all, St. John's could play 19 regular-season games against teams that participated in postseason tournaments in 2009-10 (NCAA - Duke, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pitt, Saint Mary's, Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia; NIT - Arizona State, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Northwestern, Seton Hall, USF).
For ticket information, schedules, scores and highlights for all St. John's games, visit the home of the Red Storm on the Internet at www.redstormsports.com. Tickets can be purchased here or by calling the St. John's Ticket Office at 1-888-GO-STORM or 718-990-6211.
