St. John’s to Welcome Saint Peter’s on Saturday

QUEENS, N.Y. – After recording the program's most lopsided victory in 70 years in Tuesday's season opener, the St. John's Red Storm will return to action inside Carnesecca Arena on Saturday when it plays host to Saint Peter's.

Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. on FS1 with Connell McShane and Tarik Turner on the call from Queens. An audio broadcast of the contest can be found on a variety of outlets, as John Minko and Brandon Tierney will narrate the action on The Varsity Network app, TuneIn Radio and RedStormSports.com. For the first time, an audio broadcast will also be available on the newly launched St. John's Red Storm mobile app.

St. John's will look to improve to 2-0 for the eighth straight season after cruising to a 119-61 win in its campaign opener on Tuesday against Mississippi Valley State. The Red Storm's 58-point margin of victory was the most lopsided for the Johnnies since the Nov. 28, 1951. The Red Storm's 119 points marked the third highest single-game total in program history and the most since St. John's scored a school-record 135 points against Central Connecticut State on Nov. 24, 1990. In that game, Malik Sealy dropped what was then an arena-record 43 points against the Blue Devils.

As a team on Tuesday, St. John's shot 69.2 percent from the floor and went 13-of-25 (52.0%) from beyond the arc. The Johnnies also dished out 30 assists on 45 made buckets and blocked nine shots.

Six different Johnnies reached double figures in the season opener, led by Julian Champagnie with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Last season, Champagnie earned a spot on the All-BIG EAST First Team after leading the league in scoring with 19.8 points per game. He scored 12 or more points in all 25 of his appearances with 11 outings of 20-plus points.

Posh Alexander, the reigning BIG EAST Freshman and Defensive Player of the Year, posted 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including a 4-for-5 showing from deep, against the Delta Devils. One of three players in BIG EAST history to win freshman and defensive player of the year simultaneously alongside Patrick Ewing and Allen Iverson, Alexander also dished out a game-high seven assists and came away with three steals.

Joel Soriano, who posted eight double-doubles in just 14 opportunities a season ago at Fordham, tallied 11 points and 13 boards in his St. John's debut. Two other transfers, Tareq Coburn and Montez Mathis, finished in double figures. Coburn went 5-of-8 from the floor, including three triples, to net 13 points while Mathis tallied 11 points on just five field goal attempts. Coburn, a former Academic All-American, connected on 170 3-pointers in just three years at Hofstra, hitting from deep at a 40.3 percent clip. Mathis averaged 8.0 points across 90 career appearances with Rutgers, helping the Scarlet Knights reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three decades last spring.

Freshman O'Mar Stanley had a flawless Red Storm debut, scoring 14 points on 7-of-7 shooting and grabbing six boards in only 20 minutes of action. Classmate Rafael Pinzon, a Long Island Lutheran product and an international standout with the Puerto Rican U19 National Team, scored seven points and dished out five assists in his first game with the Red Storm.

Saint Peter's ventures to Queens after a narrow defeat on the road at VCU to open its season on Tuesday. After trailing by as many as 17 in the first half, the Peacocks came back to grab the lead with less than two minutes to go before eventually falling in one of the most hostile road environments in all of college basketball.

Picked to finish second in the MAAC preseason poll behind Iona, Saint Peter's is led by MAAC Preseason Player of the Year KC Ndefo, who logged 10 points on Tuesday despite being limited to only 16 minutes because of foul trouble. Junior guard Doug Edert tallied a team-high 17 points against the Rams, going 6-of-11 from the floor and 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.

St. John's and Saint Peter's will meet for the 20^th time in the history of the two programs on Saturday. The Red Storm has owned the series, winning all 19 matchups between the two programs dating back to 1910, including victories in each of the last two campaigns. Last year, the Johnnies needed a 5-0 run over the final 20 seconds to knock off the Peacocks, 76-75, in their season opener at Carnesecca Arena.

Single game and season tickets for the St. John's men's basketball team are on sale now at RedStormTix.com. Fans call also call 1-888-GO-STORM or email RedStormSports@stjohns.edu for information about a variety of ticket options to see the Johnnies in person this winter.

St. John’s to Welcome Saint Peter’s on Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Posh Alexander

Julian Champagnie

Tareq Coburn

Montez Mathis

Rafael Pinzon

Joel Soriano

O'Mar Stanley

St. John's University Athletics