St. John's University Athletics
Wednesday, February 20
Providence, R.I. (Dunkin' Donuts Center)
8:30 p.m.
St. John's University
at
Providence
St. John’s Heads to Providence for Wednesday Night Tilt
2/19/2019 3:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Red Storm will look to win its third straight on FS1 at 8:30 p.m.
QUEENS, N.Y. – The winners of two in a row and fresh off a victory over defending national champion Villanova, the St. John's men's basketball team will venture to Providence for a Wednesday night contest against the Friars.
Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. on FS1 with Justin Kutcher and Tarik Turner on the call. John Minko and Brian Mahoney will handle the broadcasting duties on the St. John's IMG Sports Network, which will air on Sirius XM Streaming Channel 971.
The Johnnies (19-7, 7-6 BIG EAST) will look to secure their first 20-win season of the Chris Mullin Era when they visit the Friars (14-12, 4-9 BIG EAST) on Wednesday night. The Red Storm, who knocked off Butler and then-No. 13 Villanova in a pair of home games last week, will look to avenge a loss to Providence at Madison Square Garden a week and a half ago on Feb. 9. Playing without the services of the team's second leading scorer, Mustapha Heron, the Johnnies stumbled to just 56 points in a 14-point loss to the Friars. The Red Storm has since responded from that effort, outlasting Butler in overtime before knocking off Villanova at home for the first time since Jay Wright's first season as the Wildcats' head coach in 2002.
St. John's wrapped its regular season meetings against the BIG EAST's nationally ranked duo of Marquette and Villanova with a record of 3-1, sweeping the Golden Eagles before securing a split with the Wildcats on Sunday. All three of those wins occurred while the opposing team was ranked 16 or higher in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. That trio of triumphs accounts for three of the Red Storm's five Quadrant One wins, as the team's neutral site victory over VCU and road win at Creighton currently bear the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee's highest designation as well. Excluding St. John's, the bottom eight teams in the BIG EAST have combined to go 0-20 against Villanova and Marquette this year.
The Red Storm is currently tied for third in the BIG EAST standings with Seton Hall, who the Johnnies will meet on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. With less than a third of the conference season remaining, all 10 BIG EAST teams will be in action Wednesday evening.
Heron earned his first BIG EAST Player of the Week Award on Monday after leading the Red Storm with 23.5 points per game during its 2-0 week. The Waterbury, Conn., native shot 54.2 percent from the floor and 50 percent from three while connecting on 17 of his 20 tries from the free throw line. Heron came up clutch when it mattered most for St. John's last week, going 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in overtime against Butler before once again knocking down all six of his free throw attempts in the final 84 seconds against Villanova.
LJ Figueroa earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after playing a key role in a comeback that saw the Johnnies erase a 19-point first half deficit. With his team trailing by as many as 14 with 12 minutes to play, Figueroa scored 16 of his 22 points down the stretch and grabbed nine of his 12 rebounds in the second half. The sophomore drained three 3-pointers in the latter stanza, the last of which put the Red Storm ahead for good.
Since topping St. John's at The Garden on Feb. 9, Providence has dropped back-to-back decisions against Villanova and Xavier, the latter of which came at home on Saturday. The Friars led Villanova by a pair on the road with nine minutes to play before the Wildcats closed the game on a 30-10 run. Providence led by six at the intermission on Saturday before the Musketeers opened up the second half on a 10-2 run to take the lead for good.
Providence saw four players reach double figures in the win over St. John's on Feb. 9, led by 18 points from Nate Watson. New York City native Alpha Diallo, the team's leading scorer this season at 16.4 points per game, tallied a 10-point, 15-rebound double-double the last time the two teams faced one another. The Johnnies, who shot just 2-for-12 from three-point range that day, will also look to shore up a rebounding deficit that allowed the Friars to outboard them by a 43-23 margin.
Beginning with Wednesday night's showdown in Providence, three of the Red Storm's final five regular season games will come on the road. The Johnnies will host Seton Hall (Feb. 23) and Xavier (Feb. 28) before traveling to DePaul (March 3) and Xavier (March 9) to close out the season.
Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. on FS1 with Justin Kutcher and Tarik Turner on the call. John Minko and Brian Mahoney will handle the broadcasting duties on the St. John's IMG Sports Network, which will air on Sirius XM Streaming Channel 971.
The Johnnies (19-7, 7-6 BIG EAST) will look to secure their first 20-win season of the Chris Mullin Era when they visit the Friars (14-12, 4-9 BIG EAST) on Wednesday night. The Red Storm, who knocked off Butler and then-No. 13 Villanova in a pair of home games last week, will look to avenge a loss to Providence at Madison Square Garden a week and a half ago on Feb. 9. Playing without the services of the team's second leading scorer, Mustapha Heron, the Johnnies stumbled to just 56 points in a 14-point loss to the Friars. The Red Storm has since responded from that effort, outlasting Butler in overtime before knocking off Villanova at home for the first time since Jay Wright's first season as the Wildcats' head coach in 2002.
St. John's wrapped its regular season meetings against the BIG EAST's nationally ranked duo of Marquette and Villanova with a record of 3-1, sweeping the Golden Eagles before securing a split with the Wildcats on Sunday. All three of those wins occurred while the opposing team was ranked 16 or higher in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. That trio of triumphs accounts for three of the Red Storm's five Quadrant One wins, as the team's neutral site victory over VCU and road win at Creighton currently bear the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee's highest designation as well. Excluding St. John's, the bottom eight teams in the BIG EAST have combined to go 0-20 against Villanova and Marquette this year.
The Red Storm is currently tied for third in the BIG EAST standings with Seton Hall, who the Johnnies will meet on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. With less than a third of the conference season remaining, all 10 BIG EAST teams will be in action Wednesday evening.
Heron earned his first BIG EAST Player of the Week Award on Monday after leading the Red Storm with 23.5 points per game during its 2-0 week. The Waterbury, Conn., native shot 54.2 percent from the floor and 50 percent from three while connecting on 17 of his 20 tries from the free throw line. Heron came up clutch when it mattered most for St. John's last week, going 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in overtime against Butler before once again knocking down all six of his free throw attempts in the final 84 seconds against Villanova.
LJ Figueroa earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after playing a key role in a comeback that saw the Johnnies erase a 19-point first half deficit. With his team trailing by as many as 14 with 12 minutes to play, Figueroa scored 16 of his 22 points down the stretch and grabbed nine of his 12 rebounds in the second half. The sophomore drained three 3-pointers in the latter stanza, the last of which put the Red Storm ahead for good.
Since topping St. John's at The Garden on Feb. 9, Providence has dropped back-to-back decisions against Villanova and Xavier, the latter of which came at home on Saturday. The Friars led Villanova by a pair on the road with nine minutes to play before the Wildcats closed the game on a 30-10 run. Providence led by six at the intermission on Saturday before the Musketeers opened up the second half on a 10-2 run to take the lead for good.
Providence saw four players reach double figures in the win over St. John's on Feb. 9, led by 18 points from Nate Watson. New York City native Alpha Diallo, the team's leading scorer this season at 16.4 points per game, tallied a 10-point, 15-rebound double-double the last time the two teams faced one another. The Johnnies, who shot just 2-for-12 from three-point range that day, will also look to shore up a rebounding deficit that allowed the Friars to outboard them by a 43-23 margin.
Beginning with Wednesday night's showdown in Providence, three of the Red Storm's final five regular season games will come on the road. The Johnnies will host Seton Hall (Feb. 23) and Xavier (Feb. 28) before traveling to DePaul (March 3) and Xavier (March 9) to close out the season.
Players Mentioned
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