Red Storm Returns Home to Host The Hoyas at MSG

NEW YORK – The St. John's men's basketball team will make its 2019 Madison Square Garden debut on Sunday afternoon, playing host to Georgetown in the 113th edition of the historic rivalry between the longtime BIG EAST foes.

Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m. on FOX and 570 AM WMCA. Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson will call the Red Storm's second-straight game on FOX while John Minko and Brandon Tierney will handle the broadcasting duties on the radio.

Limited tickets are still available for purchase through the St. John's Ticket Office. Fans can secure their seats by calling 1-888-GO-STORM or by visiting RedStormTix.com.

St. John's (15-4, 3-4 BIG EAST) and Georgetown (12-7, 2-4 BIG EAST) will meet for the second time in the span of 22 days, as the Red Storm outlasted the Hoyas in an overtime thriller, 97-94, in Washington on Jan. 5. Shamorie Ponds led the way with 37 points, pacing five St. John's scorers in double figures and eclipsing the 30-point plateau for the fourth time this season. St. John's will look to sweep a two-game regular season series from Georgetown for the first time since 1998-99, a campaign that ended with an Elite Eight appearance for the Johnnies. Dating back to 2014, St. John's is 5-2 against Georgetown in contests hosted at Madison Square Garden.

Both the Johnnies and the Hoyas will be looking to gain some separation in the tightly packed BIG EAST standings. Entering the first contest of the weekend on Friday night between Butler and Creighton, St. John's is part of five-way tie for third place at 3-4. Georgetown makes up one-third of a deadlock for eighth, meaning that third place and last place in the conference standings are separated by just half a game less than a week away from the midway point of league play.

Ponds, who has reached the 20-point mark in each of his last five appearances, has established a reputation as one of the nation's top all-around talents. The junior guard from Brooklyn ranks third in the conference in scoring at 20.6 points per game while leading the league in both assists (5.7 apg) and steals (2.7 spg). Through games played on Thursday, Ponds is one of just four players nationwide to rank in the top 40 nationally in both scoring and assists alongside Murray State's Ja Morant, Howard's RJ Cole and Hampton's Jermaine Marrow. Entering Friday's slate of games, Ponds is the only player in Division I to place among the top 40 in scoring (33^rd), assists (27^th) and steals (11^th).

Ponds leads five St. John's scorers averaging 11 or more points per game this season. The team's second leading scorer at 15.3 points per outing, Mustapha Heron has enjoyed an offensive resurgence of late. After netting all 18 of his points in the second half on 7-of-8 shooting against Creighton last Wednesday, Heron matched Ponds' team-high total with 20 points against Butler. Heron's 19.0 point-per-game average over his last two appearances followed a three-game stretch in which the Waterbury, Conn., native registered just 10.3 points per contest during a 1-2 span for the Johnnies. Heron, who eclipsed the 1,300-point plateau for his career against Butler, leads the team with a 44.2 percent success rate from downtown on the season.

Despite failing to reach double figures for the first time in a month on Saturday against Butler, Justin Simon has still been experiencing a significant uptick in production during BIG EAST play. After averaging 9.3 points and 5.1 boards per outing during non-conference action, Simon is currently posting 14.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game against league foes, both of which rank third on the team. The redshirt junior guard from Temecula, Calif., is also dishing out 5.1 dimes per contest in BIG EAST play after averaging just 3.0 helpers during the team's 12-0 start.

Georgetown comes to New York on the heels of two-straight losses at home, falling to Marquette and Creighton by a combined total of just seven points. Four of the team's six conference games have been played at home so far this season with the Hoyas boasting a 1-1 record in those road tilts.

Georgetown and St. John's enter the game with the second and third best scoring offenses, respectively, in the BIG EAST. The Hoyas' attack runs through Jessie Govan, a 6-foot-10 senior from Queens Village who ranks fourth in the conference in scoring (19.8 ppg) and second in rebounding (8.2 rpg). Far from a traditional big man, Govan also strokes 44.9 percent of his tries from distance, good enough for fourth in the BIG EAST. Last time out against the Red Storm, Govan posted a 25-point, 10-rebound double-double in the Johnnies' overtime victory.

Govan leads three Hoyas averaging double figures, as freshman James Akinjo pours in 13.7 points per game while classmate Mac McClung is not far behind at 13.2. Akinjo ranks second in the BIG EAST behind Ponds with 5.3 assists per outing.

Sunday's contest will mark the final home game for St. John's before a three-game road swing that will take the Red Storm to Creighton, No. 2 Duke and No. 12 Marquette.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mustapha Heron

Shamorie Ponds

Justin Simon

St. John's University Athletics