St. John's University Athletics
Tuesday, November 27
Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)
6:30 p.m.
St. John's University
vs
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
St. John’s to Welcome Maryland Eastern Shore on Tuesday
11/26/2018 5:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Red Storm will look to match its best start in a decade
QUEENS, N.Y. – Off to its second 5-0 start in as many seasons, the St. John's men's basketball team will look to continue its winning ways when it hosts Maryland Eastern Shore on Tuesday night at Carnesecca Arena.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on FS1 and 970 AM WNYM. Brian Custer and Jim Spanarkel will call the game on television, while John Minko and Brandon Tierney will bring you the action live over the airways.
The Red Storm enters its first home game in more than two weeks on a high note, having recently claimed the Legends Classic title at Barclays Center. Brooklyn native Shamorie Ponds led the way for the Johnnies in their first championship at an early-season tournament since the 2010 Great Alaska Shootout, averaging 33.5 points, 6.0 assists, 4.0 steals and 3.0 rebounds per game en route to earning MVP honors. After scoring 16 of his 32 points in the final seven minutes of Monday's opening win over California, Ponds exploded for a season-high 35 points in the team's victory against VCU the following day. Ponds scored 25 of his 35 points after halftime, netted the Red Storm's final six points of the contest and swiped a career-high seven steals. Ponds, who currently ranks sixth in the nation with 3.0 steals per game, became just the ninth player in program history and the first since Sir'Dominic Pointer in 2014 to record seven or more thefts in a single outing.
For his efforts, Ponds was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week on Monday for the third time in his career. The BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year was not without competition, as Creighton, Villanova and Seton Hall also claimed titles at their respective early-season tournaments behind strong individual performances.
The Red Storm will also look to sustain production from a talented pair of St. John's newcomers in Mustapha Heron and LJ Figueroa. Heron, a Second Team All-SEC selection at Auburn last season, failed to reach double figures for the first time as a member of the Johnnies against VCU, but still ranks second on the team in scoring at 17.8 points per game. Figueroa, a former NJCAA Division I All-American at Odessa College, earned a spot on the Legends Classic All-Tournament Team after posting 15 points and nine rebounds in the Red Storm's title-clinching victory over the Rams.
A win over the Hawks on Tuesday would match the best start for the Red Storm since the 2009-10 Johnnies went 6-0 before falling on the road to No. 6 Duke in early December. The last time a St. John's team won more than six-straight decisions to begin a campaign came all the way back in 1994-95, when the Red Storm rattled off seven in a row behind 17.6 points per game from freshman sensation Felipe Lopez.
Last season, the Red Storm ranked ninth in the BIG EAST in offensive production at season's end with 73.1 points per game. In the early going of 2018-19, the Johnnies are pacing the conference in that category with 82.6 points per game. The aforementioned 1994-95 squad was the last St. John's team to find the bottom of the net more often through five games, averaging 85.0 points per contest in wins over Dartmouth, Bowling Green, Coppin State, Niagara and Pittsburgh.
UMES (1-5) comes to Queens looking for its first Division I win of the season after defeating Central Pennsylvania College of the USCAA on Saturday. The Hawks feature two players averaging double figures on the year, as AJ Cheeseman paces the team with 14.2 points per game while Ryan Andino chips in 11.5 per contest.
St. John's will be the second BIG EAST team that the Hawks square off with this season, as Georgetown topped UMES, 68-53, in the season opener for both teams on Nov. 6. Cheeseman tallied a game-high 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting against the Hoyas in that meeting.
After squaring off with UMES, St. John's will leave the New York Metropolitan Area for the first time this season, traveling to the Sunshine State for a the Hoophall Miami Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 1. The Red Storm will square off with ACC foe Georgia Tech on ESPNU and 570 AM WMCA beginning at 12 p.m.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on FS1 and 970 AM WNYM. Brian Custer and Jim Spanarkel will call the game on television, while John Minko and Brandon Tierney will bring you the action live over the airways.
The Red Storm enters its first home game in more than two weeks on a high note, having recently claimed the Legends Classic title at Barclays Center. Brooklyn native Shamorie Ponds led the way for the Johnnies in their first championship at an early-season tournament since the 2010 Great Alaska Shootout, averaging 33.5 points, 6.0 assists, 4.0 steals and 3.0 rebounds per game en route to earning MVP honors. After scoring 16 of his 32 points in the final seven minutes of Monday's opening win over California, Ponds exploded for a season-high 35 points in the team's victory against VCU the following day. Ponds scored 25 of his 35 points after halftime, netted the Red Storm's final six points of the contest and swiped a career-high seven steals. Ponds, who currently ranks sixth in the nation with 3.0 steals per game, became just the ninth player in program history and the first since Sir'Dominic Pointer in 2014 to record seven or more thefts in a single outing.
For his efforts, Ponds was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week on Monday for the third time in his career. The BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year was not without competition, as Creighton, Villanova and Seton Hall also claimed titles at their respective early-season tournaments behind strong individual performances.
The Red Storm will also look to sustain production from a talented pair of St. John's newcomers in Mustapha Heron and LJ Figueroa. Heron, a Second Team All-SEC selection at Auburn last season, failed to reach double figures for the first time as a member of the Johnnies against VCU, but still ranks second on the team in scoring at 17.8 points per game. Figueroa, a former NJCAA Division I All-American at Odessa College, earned a spot on the Legends Classic All-Tournament Team after posting 15 points and nine rebounds in the Red Storm's title-clinching victory over the Rams.
A win over the Hawks on Tuesday would match the best start for the Red Storm since the 2009-10 Johnnies went 6-0 before falling on the road to No. 6 Duke in early December. The last time a St. John's team won more than six-straight decisions to begin a campaign came all the way back in 1994-95, when the Red Storm rattled off seven in a row behind 17.6 points per game from freshman sensation Felipe Lopez.
Last season, the Red Storm ranked ninth in the BIG EAST in offensive production at season's end with 73.1 points per game. In the early going of 2018-19, the Johnnies are pacing the conference in that category with 82.6 points per game. The aforementioned 1994-95 squad was the last St. John's team to find the bottom of the net more often through five games, averaging 85.0 points per contest in wins over Dartmouth, Bowling Green, Coppin State, Niagara and Pittsburgh.
UMES (1-5) comes to Queens looking for its first Division I win of the season after defeating Central Pennsylvania College of the USCAA on Saturday. The Hawks feature two players averaging double figures on the year, as AJ Cheeseman paces the team with 14.2 points per game while Ryan Andino chips in 11.5 per contest.
St. John's will be the second BIG EAST team that the Hawks square off with this season, as Georgetown topped UMES, 68-53, in the season opener for both teams on Nov. 6. Cheeseman tallied a game-high 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting against the Hoyas in that meeting.
After squaring off with UMES, St. John's will leave the New York Metropolitan Area for the first time this season, traveling to the Sunshine State for a the Hoophall Miami Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 1. The Red Storm will square off with ACC foe Georgia Tech on ESPNU and 570 AM WMCA beginning at 12 p.m.
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