Red Storm Returns to Carnesecca for NJIT on Saturday

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's men's basketball team will return to action at Carnesecca Arena on Saturday when the Red Storm hosts NJIT at 4 p.m.

The contest will air live on FS2 with Pat O'Keefe and Tarik Turner on the call from Queens. Fans can also listen to an audio broadcast of the Red Storm's clash with the Highlanders on a variety of digital platforms including The Varsity Network App, TuneIn Radio, the Sirius XM app (ch. 985), RedStormSports.com and the newly launched St. John's Red Storm Mobile App. John Minko will handle play-by-play duties over the airwaves while Brandon Tierney will provide color commentary.

St. John's (4-1) will look to improve to 5-0 on the season in Queens when NJIT visits on Saturday afternoon. Since Mike Anderson took over the reins of the Red Storm program prior to the 2019-20 season, St. John's is 17-1 against non-league foes at Carnesecca Arena and has won 14 straight games against non-conference opponents.

The Red Storm's latest non-conference triumph came on Tuesday, when the Johnnies used a late 18-2 run to push past St. Francis Brooklyn, 76-70. Julian Champagnie scored 12 of those critical 18 points and assisted on another bucket. The junior wing from Brooklyn, who was named to his second consecutive BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday, finished the contest with 23 points, six rebounds, five assists, four steals and four blocks, the last three of which set or matched a career high for the Bishop Loughlin product. Through games played on Thursday, Champagnie ranks second in the BIG EAST in scoring at 22.8 points per game, trailing only two-time BIG EAST Player of the Week Javon Freeman-Liberty of DePaul in that category. Champagnie has scored no fewer than 17 points in any one game this season with four efforts of 20 or more and one double-double.

Champagnie led four Johnnies in double figures on Tuesday. Montez Mathis put forth the most explosive performance of his St. John's career, pouring in 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting. In his last two games, the Rutgers transfer is averaging 16.5 points on a 70.0 percent clip from the field.

Stef Smith and Dylan Addae-Wusu also had efficient nights against the Terriers. Smith scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting and matched a career-high with six assists while Addae-Wusu added 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting and set career-highs with seven rebounds and four steals.

Smith and Addae-Wusu took over the primary ball-handling duties on Tuesday night due to the absence of Posh Alexander and Rafael Pinzon. Alexander missed the St. Francis game with a lower right leg strain while Pinzon sat out his second straight contest with an injured left ring finger.

The Red Storm's last two victories have come by a narrower margin than the first two thanks in large part to the 3-point line. In wins over Mississippi Valley State and Saint Peter's by an average margin of 39.5 points, St. John's went 26-for-54 (48.1%) from beyond the arc while the opposition connected at a 29.5 percent clip from deep (13-for-44). In the team's last two wins over Fairleigh Dickinson and St. Francis Brooklyn, which came by an average margin of 9.5 points, the Red Storm went just 8-of-36 (22.2%) from beyond the arc while opponents connected on 21 of their 46 tries from long range (45.7%).

Despite the team's shooting mark from downtown, St. John's still shot a combined 51.2 percent from the field in those wins over the Knights and the Terriers. Through games played on Thursday, St. John's ranks second nationally in two-point field goal percentage (63.8%) according to KenPom. The Johnnies also sit seventh nationally in scoring offense (89.4 ppg) and third in overall field goal percentage (53.4%).

The Highlanders will come to Queens with a record of 2-2 after defeating Fairleigh Dickinson, 62-54, at home on Wednesday. Senior forward Miles Coleman scored 13 of his game-high 17 points at the free throw line for NJIT and grabbed 10 boards for his first Division I double-double. The Highlanders got to the line with regularity on Wednesday, taking 36 free throws to FDU's 15.

Coleman is NJIT's leading scorer and rebounder this season, averaging 16.5 points and 6.8 boards per contest. Senior guard Dylan O'Hearn is not far behind Coleman in the scoring column, averaging 15.5 per outing. The Windsor, Ontario, native has a pair of 20-point performances on his resume, posting 23 against Lehigh before scoring 20 in a loss to Rutgers. O'Hearn combined to go 8-for-14 from 3-point range in those two games.

St. John's will welcome the Highlanders to Queens for the sixth time since 2006 and the first since NJIT handed the Red Storm an 83-74 loss during the 2015-16 campaign. The Johnnies lead the overall series 4-1.

After taking on the Highlanders, St. John's will play the marquee matchup of its non-conference campaign when the Red Storm welcomes No. 4/3 Kansas to the brand new UBS Arena at Belmont Park on Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. That contest against the Jayhawks will be the first basketball game held at the state-of-the-art facility, which opened earlier this month in the Johnnies' backyard.

Limited tickets for the contest are still on sale through the St. John's Ticket Office. Fans can also secure their seats by calling 1-888-GO-STORM or emailing RedStormSports@stjohns.edu.

Red Storm Returns to Carnesecca for NJIT on Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Dylan Addae-Wusu

Posh Alexander

Julian Champagnie

Montez Mathis

Rafael Pinzon

Stef Smith

St. John's University Athletics