St. John's University Athletics
Thursday, November 17
Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)
6:30 p.m.
St. John's University
vs
Nebraska
St. John’s and Nebraska to Meet Thursday in Gavitt Tipoff Games
11/16/2022 3:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Red Storm men’s basketball team hosts Cornhuskers at 6:30 p.m. inside Carnesecca Arena
QUEENS, N.Y. – Off to the program's third 3-0 start in four seasons under Mike Anderson, the St. John's men's basketball team will take on its first high-major opponent of the year when it welcomes Nebraska to Carnesecca Arena on Thursday as part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games.
Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. on FS1 with Tim Brando and Donny Marshall on the call.
An audio broadcast of the game on the LEARFIELD Red Storm Sports Network with John Minko and Tarik Turner will be available on a variety of platforms including the Varsity Network App, TuneIn Radio, RedStormSports.com and the St. John's Red Storm mobile app. The radio broadcast can also be heard on SiriusXM channel 385 and channel 975 on the SiriusXM App.
Thursday will also serve as the first of the Red Storm's five "Borough Nights" set to take place throughout the season. Thursday's honored borough is Queens and all Queens residents are eligible to receive discounted tickets when purchasing through this link.
The Gavitt Tipoff Games are a series of contests between the BIG EAST and Big Ten that honor the legacy of Dave Gavitt, a basketball visionary and the founding father of the BIG EAST Conference who passed away in 2011. St. John's will take part in the Gavitt Games for the sixth time since the event's inception in 2015. The Johnnies are 3-2 in their previous five apperances, including a 2-0 record at home. This will mark the second time that St. John's and Nebraska have squared off in the Gavitt Games, as the Johnnies rolled to a 79-56 win on Nov. 16, 2017, behind 22 points from Shamorie Ponds and a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double from Justin Simon.
St. John's (3-0) enters its Thursday tilt with Nebraska having won each of its first three games by 15 or more points. The Johnnies, who brought back eight letterwinners from last season and welcomed a talented class of five newcomers, are averaging 90.3 points per game and shooting 54.8 percent from the floor, good enough for 24th and 15th in the nation, respectively. The Red Storm has eclipsed the 50 percent plateau from the floor in each of its first three games, marking the program's first three-game streak of 50-plus percent shooting since February of 2015.
Leading the way for a Red Storm squad that ranks 29th in adjusted offensive effiency according to KenPom, David Jones has been sensational to start his St. John's career. The former DePaul standout is averaging a team-beest 18.7 points to go along with 8.0 rebounds per contest. He earned a spot on the first BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll of the season after following up a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double against Merrimack with a 20-point effort in the win over Lafayette. The Red Storm's other highly touted transfer, Andre Curbelo, is leading the team with 6.0 assists per game in addition to averaging 9.7 points on a highly efficient 63.2 percent shooting percentage.
Four Johnnies are averaing double figures in the early going of the campaign. After Jones, Montez Mathis and Joel Soriano are even at 11.3 points per game. Mathis, who scored his 1,000th career point against Merrimack, has been incredibly efficient, shooting 63.2 percent from the floor (12-of-19) and 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from beyond the arc. Soriano posted double-doubles in each of his first two games before scoring nine points in the win over CCSU. Soriano, who leads the team with 8.7 boards per game, is shooting a blistering 70.0 percent from the floor.
A selection to Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team, Posh Alexander is averaging 10.7 points on 50.0 percent shooting to go along with 5.7 assists per game. On Tuesday, Alexander was one of 50 players around the country named to the preseason watch list for the Wooden Award, the highest individual honor in college basketball. Alexander, who led the BIG EAST in steals as both a freshman and a sophomore, is currently leading the league again with 2.7 thefts per outing.
The highest rated high school recruit of Anderson's tenure, AJ Storr enjoyed a breakout game against CCSU, scoring a game-high 16 points in just 17 minutes of action. He went 6-of-10 from the field, including a 4-for-5 effort from deep.
Nebraska comes to Queens after winning a pair of non-conference games in Lincoln against Maine and Omaha by an average margin of 13.5 points.
The Cornhuskers were picked to finish 14th in the Big Ten Preseason Media Poll. Last season, Nebraska finished Big Ten play with a record of 4-16 and went 10-22 overall.
Nebraska lost each of its top three scorers from last year's squad. Sam Griesel, a First Team All-Summit League selection last season at North Dakota State, is the Cornhuskers' leading scorer at 20.0 per game on the year. The 6-foot-7 guard posted 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting and nine rebounds in the season opener against Maine before scoring 18 points against Omaha last Thursday. C.J. Wilcher, the team's leading returning scorer from last season (8.1 ppg), is averaging 14.0 points per game. The Xavier transfer scored a game-high 21 points against Omaha, shooting 8-of-12 from the field and 4-of-7 from deep.
St. John's and Nebraska will meet for just the second time in the history of the two programs on Thursday night.
Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. on FS1 with Tim Brando and Donny Marshall on the call.
An audio broadcast of the game on the LEARFIELD Red Storm Sports Network with John Minko and Tarik Turner will be available on a variety of platforms including the Varsity Network App, TuneIn Radio, RedStormSports.com and the St. John's Red Storm mobile app. The radio broadcast can also be heard on SiriusXM channel 385 and channel 975 on the SiriusXM App.
Thursday will also serve as the first of the Red Storm's five "Borough Nights" set to take place throughout the season. Thursday's honored borough is Queens and all Queens residents are eligible to receive discounted tickets when purchasing through this link.
The Gavitt Tipoff Games are a series of contests between the BIG EAST and Big Ten that honor the legacy of Dave Gavitt, a basketball visionary and the founding father of the BIG EAST Conference who passed away in 2011. St. John's will take part in the Gavitt Games for the sixth time since the event's inception in 2015. The Johnnies are 3-2 in their previous five apperances, including a 2-0 record at home. This will mark the second time that St. John's and Nebraska have squared off in the Gavitt Games, as the Johnnies rolled to a 79-56 win on Nov. 16, 2017, behind 22 points from Shamorie Ponds and a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double from Justin Simon.
St. John's (3-0) enters its Thursday tilt with Nebraska having won each of its first three games by 15 or more points. The Johnnies, who brought back eight letterwinners from last season and welcomed a talented class of five newcomers, are averaging 90.3 points per game and shooting 54.8 percent from the floor, good enough for 24th and 15th in the nation, respectively. The Red Storm has eclipsed the 50 percent plateau from the floor in each of its first three games, marking the program's first three-game streak of 50-plus percent shooting since February of 2015.
Leading the way for a Red Storm squad that ranks 29th in adjusted offensive effiency according to KenPom, David Jones has been sensational to start his St. John's career. The former DePaul standout is averaging a team-beest 18.7 points to go along with 8.0 rebounds per contest. He earned a spot on the first BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll of the season after following up a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double against Merrimack with a 20-point effort in the win over Lafayette. The Red Storm's other highly touted transfer, Andre Curbelo, is leading the team with 6.0 assists per game in addition to averaging 9.7 points on a highly efficient 63.2 percent shooting percentage.
Four Johnnies are averaing double figures in the early going of the campaign. After Jones, Montez Mathis and Joel Soriano are even at 11.3 points per game. Mathis, who scored his 1,000th career point against Merrimack, has been incredibly efficient, shooting 63.2 percent from the floor (12-of-19) and 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from beyond the arc. Soriano posted double-doubles in each of his first two games before scoring nine points in the win over CCSU. Soriano, who leads the team with 8.7 boards per game, is shooting a blistering 70.0 percent from the floor.
A selection to Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team, Posh Alexander is averaging 10.7 points on 50.0 percent shooting to go along with 5.7 assists per game. On Tuesday, Alexander was one of 50 players around the country named to the preseason watch list for the Wooden Award, the highest individual honor in college basketball. Alexander, who led the BIG EAST in steals as both a freshman and a sophomore, is currently leading the league again with 2.7 thefts per outing.
The highest rated high school recruit of Anderson's tenure, AJ Storr enjoyed a breakout game against CCSU, scoring a game-high 16 points in just 17 minutes of action. He went 6-of-10 from the field, including a 4-for-5 effort from deep.
Nebraska comes to Queens after winning a pair of non-conference games in Lincoln against Maine and Omaha by an average margin of 13.5 points.
The Cornhuskers were picked to finish 14th in the Big Ten Preseason Media Poll. Last season, Nebraska finished Big Ten play with a record of 4-16 and went 10-22 overall.
Nebraska lost each of its top three scorers from last year's squad. Sam Griesel, a First Team All-Summit League selection last season at North Dakota State, is the Cornhuskers' leading scorer at 20.0 per game on the year. The 6-foot-7 guard posted 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting and nine rebounds in the season opener against Maine before scoring 18 points against Omaha last Thursday. C.J. Wilcher, the team's leading returning scorer from last season (8.1 ppg), is averaging 14.0 points per game. The Xavier transfer scored a game-high 21 points against Omaha, shooting 8-of-12 from the field and 4-of-7 from deep.
St. John's and Nebraska will meet for just the second time in the history of the two programs on Thursday night.
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
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Center
/ Men's Basketball
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