St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Opens BIG EAST Tournament on Wednesday
3/6/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's men's basketball team opens the 2017 BIG EAST Tournament Presented by Jeep with a first round matchup against Georgetown (14-17) on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. The No. 8 seed Red Storm and No. 9 seed Hoyas tip off at 7 p.m.
A national telecast will air on FS1, with announcers Gus Johnson, Bill Raftery and Lisa Byington reporting from the sideline. St. John's IMG Radio broadcast with John Minko and Brandon Tierney can be heard on 970 AM WNYM or through TuneIn Radio .
The Johnnies enter the BIG EAST Tournament having won three of their last four games at "The World's Most Famous Arena." Led by unanimous All-BIG EAST Freshman Team selections, Shamorie Ponds and Marcus LoVett, the Red Storm will try to advance in the tournament for the first time since 2011 with one of the youngest rosters in the nation, as six of the team's 10 scholarship players will be making their postseason debut.
St. John's (13-18) split the regular-season series with the Hoyas and will square off with its archrival for the second time in 12 days at The Garden. In the last meeting on Feb. 25, the Johnnies rallied behind Ponds' game-high 24-point performance and left Midtown with an 86-80 victory. Bashir Ahmed and Federico Mussini each chipped in 16 points, while LoVett was the fourth Johnnie in double-figures with 11 points to go with four assists.
In order to make noise in the 35th edition of the BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden, the Red Storm will need the dynamic duo of Ponds (17.6 ppg) and LoVett (16.4 ppg) to continue its stellar play that was put on display over the course of the regular-season. The St. John's rookie backcourt is the second-highest scoring teammates in the BIG EAST with a combined 34.0 points per game, which was also the second-highest scoring average among freshman tandems in Division I trailing only Kentucky's Malik Monk (21.2 ppg) and De'Aaron Fox (15.5 ppg).
Ponds, a five-time Freshman of the Week selection, finished the regular-season top-5 in the BIG EAST in scoring, free-throw percentage, 3-pointers and he was the first freshman to lead the league in steals since 1998-99. LoVett, a two-time Freshman of the Week honoree, ranked in the top-10 on the conference's scoring, assists, steals and free-throw percentage charts.
In addition to the rookie duo, an infusion of complementary first year talent on the St. John's roster helped the Johnnies transform into one of the most improved team's in the nation with a six win increase in conference play from 2015-16 to 2016-17. Ahmed, the team's third leading scorer with 13.4 points per game, started all 31 games and scored double-figures 25 times, while Tariq Owens gave the squad an added defensive punch as he led the BIG EAST with 68 blocks during the regular-season.
Georgetown enters the postseason on a five-game losing streak, most recently falling to Villanova, 81-55, on Saturday at the Verizon Center. Graduate transfer Rodney Pryor, an All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention, led the team in scoring (18.1 ppg) and rebounding (5.0 rpg) during the regular-season. Pryor and junior guard LJ Peak (16.1 ppg) have the slight edge on Ponds and LoVett as the highest scoring tandem in the BIG EAST.
Winners of six of the last nine meetings with the Hoyas at MSG, St. John's will square off with Georgetown for the seventh time in BIG EAST Tournament history. Wednesday's contest will be their first postseason showdown since 2009 when the Red Storm upended Georgetown, 64-59, in the BIG EAST Tournament first round.
Wednesday's matchup also marks the 108th all-time meeting between the original BIG EAST members. The Johnnies hold a 56-51 advantage in a series that dates back to 1909.
The winner of St. John's-Georgetown will play in Thursday's quarterfinal at 12 p.m. against top-seeded Villanova. All BIG EAST Tournament games will be streamed through the FOX Sports Go app.
