St. John’s Returns Home to Host Providence at MSG

QUEENS, N.Y. – After claiming a pair of BIG EAST road victories during a crucial three-game road swing that spanned eight days and featured nearly 4,000 miles of travel, the St. John's men's basketball team will return to "The World's Most Famous Arena" on Saturday when it plays host to Providence.

Tip-off is schedule for 12 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network and 570 AM WMCA. Brent Stover, Steve Lappas and Jenny Dell will handle the broadcasting duties on CBS SN while John Minko and Brandon Tierney will call the action over the airwaves.

Fans can secure their seats by calling the St. John's Ticket Office at 1-888-GO-STORM or by visiting RedStormTix.com.

Following its daunting three-game road swing, the Red Storm (17-6, 5-5 BIG EAST) will play five of its next six contests at home before closing out the regular season with a pair of road contests. The Johnnies secured regular season sweeps of both Creighton and No. 10 Marquette on its eight-day trip, becoming just the fifth team since conference realignment to take a pair of games from both the Bluejays and the Golden Eagles in the same campaign.

Prior to sweeping the Golden Eagles this season, the Red Storm last took a pair of regular season games from a ranked BIG EAST opponent in 1999-2000, when the Johnnies knocked off defending national champion Connecticut twice. Since Head Coach Chris Mullin last donned a St. John's uniform in 1985, a regular season sweep of a ranked foe has only happened four times, as the Johnnies also took a pair from UConn in 1990-91 and Georgetown in 1985-86.

In the latest NET rankings released by the NCAA on Friday, St. John's ranks 39th and boasts five Quad One victories on its resume. Both of the Red Storm's wins against Marquette currently bear the Selection Committee's highest designation, as does the team's neutral site win over VCU and its road wins over Creighton and Georgetown.

The Red Storm's most recent victory came in thrilling fashion, as Shamorie Ponds recorded the go-ahead layup with 16 seconds to play before Mustapha Heron secured a game-clinching stop on Markus Howard, the BIG EAST's leading scorer. Ponds registered a game-high 28 points, marking his eight-straight BIG EAST effort with 20 or more points and his 14th 20-point outing in 22 tries this season. On the year, Ponds ranks third in the BIG EAST in scoring at 20.8 points per game while leading the conference in assists (5.5 apg) and steals (2.8 spg). He also currently places second in the league with a 2.4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Since conference realignment, only two players have finished a season ranked in the top three in the league in both scoring and assists, as Providence's Bryce Cotton (2013-14) and Seton Hall's Isaiah Whitehead (2015-16) did so while leading their teams to BIG EAST titles. Ponds is one of just three players to rank in the top 50 nationally in both points and assists per game, joined by Murray State's Ja Morant and Howard's RJ Cole.

After scoring just 18 total points in four games leading up to the Marquette game, Justin Simon exploded for 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the Red Storm's triumph over the Golden Eagles, who had yet to lose at home this season and have only lost in conference play to St. John's.

The Friars (13-10, 3-7 BIG EAST) enter Saturday's contest on the heels of three-straight losses, the last of which came at home against Georgetown on Wednesday. Just one of Providence's three league wins so far came on the road, a 64-62 victory at Xavier on Jan. 23.

One of the youngest teams in the BIG EAST, Providence is paced by junior guard Alpha Diallo with 17.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, both of which lead the squad. Freshman A.J. Reeves, the team's second leading scorer at 11.4 points per game, made his first start since Dec. 7 against Georgetown, scoring just three points in 19 minutes of action. The Roxbury, Mass., native, who exploded onto the scene with three 20-point efforts earlier this season, missed nearly two months with a foot injury. Junior forward Nate Watson is the third and final Friar averaging double figures on the season at 10.6 points game.

Providence is the third most frequently played opponent in St. John's history behind Villanova and Georgetown. In 112 meetings all-time, the Red Storm owns a 61-51 advantage, but has dropped each of its last three and six of its last seven contests overall dating back to the 2015 BIG EAST Tournament.

St. John’s Returns Home to Host Providence at MSG

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Players Mentioned

Mustapha Heron

Shamorie Ponds

Justin Simon

St. John's University Athletics