St. John’s Returns Home to Host FDU on Saturday

QUEENS, N.Y. – After suffering its first setback of the year on Wednesday at Indiana, the St. John's men's basketball team will return to Carnesecca Arena to begin an eight-game home stand on Saturday evening against Fairleigh Dickinson.

Tip-off against the Knights is set for 6 p.m. on FS2 with Pat O'Keefe and Tarik Turner on the call from Queens. John Minko and Brandon Tierney will narrate the St. John's audio broadcast, which can be found on a variety of different platforms including The Varsity Network app, TuneIn Radio, Sirius XM app channel 986 and the St. John's Red Storm mobile app.

St. John's (2-1) will take the floor at Carnesecca Arena after a comeback bid fell just short on Wednesday at Assembly Hall. Trailing by as many as 14 in the first half, St. John's pulled even twice in the second half, but proved unable to take the lead. The Johnnies trailed by one with just 11 seconds remaining and saw a potential game-winning 3-pointer miss its mark in the closing moments of the contest.

Preseason First Team All-BIG EAST selection Julian Champagnie put forth an exceptional effort for the Red Storm, scoring 32 points on 12-of-22 shooting, including a 6-for-12 showing from beyond the arc. The leading scorer in the BIG EAST last season with 19.8 points per game, Champagnie is once again pacing the league in that category at 24.7 points per contest in the early going.

Stef Smith reached double figures for the first time as a Johnnie, pouring in 16 points thanks to a 5-for-8 effort from the field in the second half. The Vermont transfer also dished out four assists and tallied a team-high three steals.

Posh Alexander, the reigning BIG EAST Freshman and Defensive Player of the Year, reached double figures for the third straight game in a 10-point performance. The Brooklyn native also chipped in six assists, six rebounds and three steals in 29 minutes of action.

The Red Storm will try to recapture some early season offensive magic from its first two games of the year at Carnesecca Arena. In lopsided victories over Mississippi Valley State and Saint Peter's, St. John's averaged 105.0 points per game while shooting 60.5 percent from the field and 48.1 percent from beyond the arc. The Red Storm last averaged more points in its first two games back in 1990-91 when, led by junior forward Malik Sealy, hung up 135 on Central Connecticut State and beat Monmouth, 85-60.

St. John's will welcome Fairleigh Dickinson to Carnesecca Arena for the first time since the 2014-15 season. The Red Storm is 12-0 all-time against the Knights with 10 of those wins coming in Queens and the other two coming at Madison Square Garden. In their last meeting on Dec. 10, 2014, D'Angelo Harrison scored 26 points to lead four Johnnies in double figures. Chris Obekpa added a 10-point, 12-rebound double-double and blocked six shots.

FDU comes to Queens with a record of 0-2 following lopsided road losses to Seton Hall and Northwestern. The Knights have yet to crack the 50-point plateau on the young season and are not scheduled to play a home game until Dec. 15.

Junior guard Brandon Rush is FDU's leading scorer 12.0 points per game. The Warrensville, Ohio, native is the only Knight averaging double figures.

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Players Mentioned

Posh Alexander

Julian Champagnie

Stef Smith

St. John's University Athletics