SENIOR SALUTE: St. John's Wraps Up Home Slate With DePaul At MSG

On Sunday, as part of the last regular-season home contest, a pregame ceremony will thank and honor the Red Storm's three graduating student-athletes -- Marc-Antoine Bourgault, Orlando Sanchez and God'sgift Achiuwa.

SENIOR SALUTE: St. John's Wraps Up Home Slate With DePaul At MSG

3/1/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

March 1, 2014

WATCH LIVE! CBS Sports Network Channel Locator
GAME NOTES: #SJUBB vs. DePaul
STORMTRACKER ALL-ACCESS LIVE AUDIO (Subscription): St. John's vs. DePaul
SJU-TV VIDEO PREVIEW: #SJUBB vs. DePaul - COMING SOON!
PREGAME QUOTES: #SJUBB vs. DePaul - COMING SOON!
TWITTER: @StJohnsBBall | INSTAGRAM: @StJohnsBBall | FACEBOOK: Hammer 2 Rock Hoops | EYE OF THE STORM BLOG: Check out the latest behind-the-scenes posts!

QUEENS, N.Y. - Head coach Steve Lavin and the St. John's basketball team (18-11, 8-8 BIG EAST) look to keep NCAA Tournament aspirations alive and bounce back from consecutive losses as the Red Storm hosts fellow Catholic, Vincentian and Metropolitan BIG EAST squad DePaul (11-18, 3-13 BIG EAST) on Sunday at The Garden. Senior Day tips off at noon on the CBS Sports Network -- one of 29 nationally-televised contests for St. John's in 2013-14 -- with Marv Albert, Steve Lappas and Wally Szczerbiak. The matchup will be carried live on the official radio flagship of the IMG St. John's Basketball Network -- Bloomberg Radio 1130-AM -- via Sirius Channel 85 and XM Channel 85, and on RedStormSports.com (subscription), with John Minko and Brandon Tierney.

The Red Storm is 9-3 over its last 12 games and closed out the month of Feb. with a 6-2 mark, all in BIG EAST play, to record SJU's second-best Feb. under Lavin (7-1, 2010-11). St. John's has already eclipsed last season's win total (17) and has amassed its second-most non-vacated wins since 1999-2000 (25-8, NCAA Second Round; 2010-11: 21-12 First Round).

St. John's owns a current RPI of 62, with the 29th-toughest schedule in the nation (13-4 home; 3-5 road; 2-2 neutral). The Red Storm has one victory over the RPI top six after the 70-65 win over Creighton (RPI No. 6, 23-4) on Feb. 9 at The Garden. St. John's is 5-9 vs. the RPI Top 100 and has the fifth-highest RPI in the BIG EAST, which is currently the fourth-rated conference in the country, behind only the Big 12, Big Ten and Pac 12.

St. John's is 5-3 on the year and 409-277 (.596) all-time at Madison Square Garden, which has served as a home court for St. John's basketball for more than 78 years.

On Sunday, as part of the last regular-season home contest, a pregame ceremony will thank and honor the Red Storm's three graduating student-athletes -- God'sgift Achiuwa, Marc-Antoine Bourgault and Orlando Sanchez -- as well as student-managers Daniel Martin, Thomas Tesar, Andrew Metz, Christopher Simpson-Buchanan and Michael Woodhouse.

Firing at a 36.7 percent rate from the field and outscored 38-22 in the paint, the Red Storm fell to Xavier, 65-53, at MSG on Tuesday. Sanchez, making his first appearance after missing the Villanova game for the birth of his daughter, totaled 11 points with four rebounds, three blocks and two steals.

St. John's owns a 17-15 all-time record against the Blue Demons, which includes a 9-4 mark in BIG EAST conference play. Earlier this season on Jan. 14, DePaul defeated the Red Storm, 77-75, to earn its first win in the last nine meetings and one of its three wins in conference play this season. One of the most-famous clashes with DePaul occurred at The Garden on March 26, 1944, when St. John's scored a 47-39 victory in the NIT title game.

Storm Tracker

A Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team selection, D'Angelo Harrison became the 48th player in St. John's history to reach the 1,000-point plateau last season (eighth-fastest, 57 games). Harrison is now 12th in St. John's history with 1,526 career points, 10 away from Wayne McKoy (11th, 1,536 points, 1978-81). He currently ranks third in the BIG EAST, and tied for 114th nationally, at 17.3 points per game. Harrison, who shoots 87.3 percent at the free throw line, is second among BIG EAST leaders, his 1.8 3-point field goals per game are tied for 10th and his .356 success rate from long-range ties for 16th. The Dec. 23 BIG EAST Player of the Week and 13-time BIG EAST weekly award honoree is St. John's all-time career 3-point leader with a record of 187.

The 2013 BIG EAST Rookie of the Year and a 2013-14 Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team selection, sophomore JaKarr Sampson averages 12.8 ppg (17th in the league) and is the Red Storm's leader in rebounding (6.2 rpg, seventh in the BIG EAST). His season field goal percentage of .498 is eighth among all BIG EAST players. He is shooting 53.9 percent from the floor in the past 13 games, while averaging 14.2 points and 5.8 rebounds.

Lone freshman Rysheed Jordan, the 2013-14 BIG EAST Preseason Rookie of the Year and three-time Rookie of the Week, is averaging 9.0 points and leading the squad in assists with 81 (3.0 per game, 14th in the BIG EAST; 1.4 assist-to-turnover ratio, T-12th). In BIG EAST play, those numbers have surged to 10.7 points, 3.2 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 29.3 minutes per contest.

Motor City junior Sir'Dominic Pointer has earned the nickname "Costco" from Lavin for his ability to provide whatever the team needs, and is averaging 6.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks. The Dec. 9 BIG EAST Honor Roll member currently paces the squad in thefts (38, T-5th in the BIG EAST).

A game-changing shotblocker, 6-9 Chris Obekpa -- the BIG EAST and National Defensive Player of the Year candidate with the 7-5 wingspan -- is the BIG EAST leader and ranks 14th in the nation in rejections with a 3.0 blocks per game average. Last season, Obekpa paced the NCAA with 4.03 bpg, established a new single-season St. John's and BIG EAST freshman mark with 133 rejections, and swatted a school-record 11 shots in the victory vs. Fordham (Dec. 8, 2012). Obekpa's four blocks at Xavier (Dec. 31) made him St. John's all-time leader, passing former record-holder Robert Werdann (188, 1989-92), and Obekpa now totals 218 rejections for his career. In his last eight appearances he is averaging 7.1 ppg on 71.4 percent shooting and 4.8 rpg, to go along with 16 blocks and 10 assists.

Windy City guard Phil Greene IV is scoring at a 7.7 ppg clip and showing his ability as a dynamic playmaker after recovering from offseason hip surgery. The Nov. 25 BIG EAST Honor Roll selection has committed only 14 turnovers in 679 minutes in 2013-14, an average of one per 48.5 minutes.

Senior Orlando Sanchez -- whose story of perseverance over seemingly insurmountable obstacles was chronicled by ESPN.com last season -- was granted one year of eligibility from the NCAA and is averaging 7.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.1 blocks and 0.7 steals. Sanchez grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds vs. Butler (Feb. 18) and returned to the squad to score 11 vs. Xavier (Feb. 25) after his wife, Flor, gave birth to their daughter, Ysabel, on Feb. 21.

Junior guard Jamal Branch has played in 27-of-29 games, starting five. He is averaging 4.8 points on 47.1 percent field goals and 1.8 assists in his last nine appearances, including a 10-point, five-assist, one-turnover, four-rebound day vs. Butler (Feb. 18).

Harvard transfer Max Hooper -- who scored 31 points via 10 3-pointers in a SJU game in Rome, Italy, this summer -- is 18-of-43 (.419) from distance over his last 21 appearances.

Graduate forward God'sgift Achiuwa (2.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg) provides depth in the post. Marc-Antoine Bourgault (5-of-8 3FGs on the season) is another SJU deep threat. Felix Balamou (1.0 ppg, 0.8 rpg) is a slashing scorer and athletic defender.

Offense, Defense And Special Teams... And Over The Last 12

Now 29 games into the 2013-14 season, all of St. John's offensive numbers have climbed. The Red Storm's scoring offense of 72.0 ppg is +7.2 ppg better than 64.8 ppg in 2012-13, and its season field goal percentage of .446 is an improvement on last season's mark of .417. The 3-point success rate is .334, compared to last year's .271. St. John's free throw percentage of .717 betters the .640 rate from a year ago.

On the other end of the floor, SJU limits opponents to a BIG EAST-leading 65.9 ppg on 40.5 percent shooting (tied for first) and a 33.0 percent mark from long-range (fourth).

Over the last 12 games (9-3), the Red Storm is shooting 45.7 percent while holding opponents to 41.1 percent. St. John's is connecting at a 33.8 percent clip from long-range, a 73.6 percent rate at the line and averaging 7.0 steals in that stretch.

Scouting DePaul

DePaul enters Sunday's game with an 11-18 record, including a 3-13 conference slate, after snapping a 10-game losing streak with a 65-60 win over Seton Hall on Tuesday.

As a team, the Blue Demons are averaging 6.3 steals and 4.1 blocks per game in conference action while shooting 41.7 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from 3.

The Wildcats are led by senior Brandon Young who is averaging 16.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.9 steals per game in conference action this season.

Head coach Oliver Purnell is in his fourth season at DePaul, combining for a 41-82 (.333) career record with the Blue Demons. Over his 26 seasons as a head coach, Purnell has accumulated a career record of 435-361 (.546) at five different schools.

On Deck