St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Meets Syracuse Wednesday at the Carrier Dome
12/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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QUEENS, N.Y. - St. John's wraps up non-conference play Wednesday against a familiar foe as the Johnnies visit the Carrier Dome for the 91st meeting with long-time rival Syracuse (7-4). FOX Sports regional affiliates will carry the live telecast, which airs in the New York metropolitan area on YES Network.
Wes Durham and Mike Gminski are on the call for the RSN broadcast. The game will also be carried over the airwaves on 970 AM WNYM featuring St. John's IMG Radio broadcast team of John Minko and Brandon Tierney.
St. John's (5-7) makes its first trip back to the Carrier Dome since snapping the Orange's 55-game non-conference home win streak on Dec. 6, 2014. Phil Greene IV scored 11 straight points to power a 17-2 run in the last four minutes that lifted a veteran St. John's squad to its first win at Syracuse, 69-57, in more than 15 years.
In the latest edition of the storied series, St. John's second year head coach Chris Mullin will lead his squad to Central New York looking to knock off its former BIG EAST rival for the third-straight season after the Johnnies upended the Orange, 84-72, just over a year ago at Madison Square Garden. The Red Storm drained a season-high 12 3-pointers in their 2015-16 meeting as Federico Mussini netted five triples and finished with a team-high 17 points.
Wednesday's contest also marks Mullin's coaching debut at a familiar road venue where he helped the Johnnies to a 3-1 record as a player from 1981-85. The only three-time BIG EAST Player of the Year scored a game-high 23 points and had six rebounds in his last collegiate game at the Carrier Dome on Feb. 23, 1985 to lift St. John's to an 88-83 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 32,485 fans. Now three decades later, Mullin brings one of the youngest teams in the nation into the Dome trying to come away its second consecutive road win over Syracuse since 1999.
Ready to bounce back from a two-game slide, St. John's enters the contest coming off a 92-76 loss to Penn State on Sunday in the MSG Holiday Festival. With a slew of capable first-year players, the Red Storm mixed up the starting lineup for the seventh time in 12 games against the Nittany Lions, but off shooting performances from St. John's three top scorers, who shot a combined 8-for-35, kept the team from earning its third-straight home win.
Malik Ellison and Tariq Owens were bright spots for the Red Storm on Sunday as they each delivered career-best performances. Ellison poured in 22 points on 8-for-11 shooting with five 3-pointers while Owens went for his first collegiate double-double finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Playing its third game in five days against the Johnnies, Syracuse is coming off a 105-57 victory over Eastern Michigan on Monday night. The Orange saw eight of its players reach double figures against the Eagles, led by freshman guard Tyus Battle with 18 points off the bench. Syracuse made 15 of its 28 tries from beyond the arc on Monday, led by four triples apiece from Battle and Nebraska graduate transfer Andrew White III. On the season, Syracuse ranks 25th nationally with 9.8 made 3-pointers per game and 11th in the NCAA with a 41.5 percent conversion rate from downtown.
The Orange has been stellar on the defensive end of the floor, surrendering just 62.4 points per game and allowing opponents to shoot just 36.1 percent from the field. The former ranks 26th nationally, while the latter is good enough for sixth in the NCAA.
Syracuse's two latest setbacks both came at the hands of old BIG EAST foes, as Connecticut downed the Orange, 52-50, on Dec. 5 at Madison Square Garden before Georgetown got the best of Jim Boeheim's squad, 78-71, at the Carrier Dome on Saturday.
St. John's and Syracuse will meet for the 91st time in the history of the two programs on Wednesday night, with the Orange holding a 51-39 all-time advantage.
After taking on the Orange, St. John's will return home for its BIG EAST opener against No. 13/13 Butler on Dec. 29. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. at Carnesecca Arena on FS1.
