St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Takes on Niagara Tuesday in Queens
12/1/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
· WATCH LIVE! FOX Sports 1 St. John's vs. Niagara
·
· TWITTER: @StJohnsBBall
· INSTAGRAM: @StJohnsBBall
· Game Notes (PDF)
· Digital Media Guide
QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's men's basketball team returns to Carnesecca Arena on Tuesday to take on Niagara at 7 p.m. The contest will air live on FOX Sports 1 with announcers Brian Custer and Tarik Turner. The St. John's radio broadcast can be heard on 570-AM WMCA with John Minko and Brandon Tierney calling the action.
The Red Storm is off to a 4-1 start for the second straight season and has picked up three of its wins in Queens. St. John's meets Niagara (1-3) for the 99th time, the most frequently played non-conference opponent in program history.
St. John's advanced to the NIT Season Tip-Off Championship game last week at Madison Square Garden after earning a 70-61 victory over Minnesota in a semifinal matchup. D'Angelo Harrison scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the second half to help lead the Red Storm past the Big Ten opponent. The Red Storm took No. 10/8 Gonzaga to the wire in the title contest, but fell 73-66 to the undefeated Bulldogs. Harrison averaged 17.0 points and 7.0 rebounds over the two contests and was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday.
After hosting Niagara, the Red Storm heads to Syracuse to take on the Orange at the Carrier Dome Saturday for its first road game of the year. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. with live broadcasts available on ESPN2 and 570-AM WMCA.
Things To Know
· St. John's has been one of the top defensive teams in the BIG EAST in several statistical categories. The Red Storm leads the conference and is tied for 19th nationally with 6.2 blocks per game, while also topping the BIG EAST with a 37.6 field goal percentage defense. St. John's delivered its best defensive halves this season in the NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden. On Wednesday, the Red Storm's suffocating defense held Minnesota to only 21 points, a 25.0 field goal percentage and 0-for-8 from downtown in the second half. Then in the first half on Friday versus No. 10/8 Gonzaga, St. John's held the Zags to a season-low 33 points and 1-for-7 from 3-point range.
· St. John's plays four of its next six games at Carnesecca Arena where the Red Storm has recorded three of its four wins this season. The Red Storm has won its last 10 out-of-conference regular-season games in Queens. The streak began with the 2013-14 home opening victory over Wagner on Nov. 15, 73-57.
· Sir'Dominic Pointer's statistics have ballooned across the board in the last three games versus LIU Brooklyn, Minnesota and No. 10/8 Gonzaga. Pointer has averaged 11.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.7 steals, 3.3 assists, 2.3 blocks and he has a 2.5 assist/turnover ratio. Pointer has led the team during this stretch with a 68.2 (15-22) field goal shooting percentage. He recorded a career-high 18 points versus LIU Brooklyn (Nov. 19), shooting 8-for-10 from the field. On Nov. 26 versus Minnesota he went for a season-high 11 rebounds. In the last two weeks, Pointer landed on ESPN's SportCenter Top-10 list twice. He had the #6 play after a two-handed putback slam versus LIU Brooklyn, and then had the #1 highlight with his one-handed jam over Minnesota's 6-foot-11 center Elliott Eliason.
· The Red Storm has utilized a condensed rotation that features six seasoned veterans who have combined for 90.4 percent of the team's total minutes this season. Starters D'Angelo Harrison, Phil Greene IV, Rysheed Jordan, Sir'Dominic Pointer and Chris Obekpa have each logged over 29 minutes per game. Harrison leads the BIG EAST with 34.6 mpg, while Pointer (32.8) is fourth and Jordan (32.6) is fifth. Jamal Branch has played 20.8 minutes, appearing in all five games off the bench. Christian Jones is the only other Red Storm reserve to play in all five contests. Greene IV and Pointer have appeared in 102 games in their St. John's careers, while Harrison (97) is nearing the century mark. Pointer has the longest active streak playing in St. John's last 41 games.
· D'Angelo Harrison is 10 points away from the 1,700-plateau. He is currently third among active NCAA Division I players in career scoring, behind BYU's Tyler Haws (2,099 points) and Stanford's Chasson Randle (1,757 points). Harrison is also seventh in Division I with a (17.4) career scoring average through 97 games and he is tied for third with 469 free-throws made. Harrison is 37 points shy of tying Glen Williams (1,727) for eighth place on St. John's career scoring list.
