St. John's University Athletics

St. John’s Heads to Providence on Saturday
1/6/2023 12:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Red Storm and Friars meet at 12 p.m. inside Amica Mutual Pavilion on FS1
QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's men's basketball team will look for its first true road victory of the season on Saturday when the Johnnies take on Providence (13-3, 5-0 BIG EAST) inside Amica Mutual Pavilion. FS1 will carry the national telecast at noon with Dave Sims and Vin Parise on the call.
An audio broadcast of the game on the LEARFIELD Red Storm Sports Network with John Minko and Brandon Tierney will also 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. St. John's radio broadcast can also be heard on SiriusXM channel 389 and channel 979 on the SiriusXM app.
St. John's (11-5, 1-4 BIG EAST) will look to shake off its recent 96-85 setback to Marquette on Tuesday. Senior center Joel Soriano delivered a 22-point, 13-board performance against the Golden Eagles for his NCAA-leading 13th double-double. The Red Storm's big man hit 10-of-17 from the floor and sank both of his free throws. Dylan Addae-Wusu chipped in a career-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting and drained three 3-pointers.
The Johnnies, who are 3-3 in games outside of Queens this season, will also look to pick up their first win inside Amica Mutual Pavilion, formerly known as Dunkin' Donuts Center, since defeating the Friars on Jan. 25, 2017. In that contest, Shamorie Ponds scored 22 points, shooting 4-for-5 from distance and hit all eight of his free-throw attempts in a 91-86 victory over Providence.
Saturday's contest marks the 121st all-time meeting in the series with the Friars. St. John's owns a 64-56 advantage against its fellow charter member of the BIG EAST Conference. The Johnnies have won three of the last five games in the series, including a 92-81 road win inside Alumni Hall during the 2021-22 campaign.
Soriano and Providence's Bryce Hopkins will battle on Saturday to keep their respective spots atop the conference leaderboard in scoring and rebounding during league play. Hopkins holds a slight edge averaging 19.6 points to Soriano's 18.6 per contest in BIG EAST games. However, the Red Storm's big man leads the league with 11.8 boards while the Friars' wing ranks second with 10.8 per contest.
Saturday's matchup also features the top two rebounding teams in the BIG EAST this season. The Red Storm has pulled down a conference-leading 41.1 boards per contest (10th in NCAA) and 13.5 offensive rebounds per game (16th in NCAA). The Friars sit just behind the Johnnies in both categories, posting 40.3 total rebounds and 13.0 offensive boards, while leading the league and ranking fifth in the nation with a +9.6 rebound margin.
Providence is riding an eight-game win streak and has not dropped a contest since a Nov. 30 visit to TCU. The Friars own a perfect 9-0 record at Amica Mutual Pavilion this season, which includes their most recent 73-61 victory over No. 4/5 UConn on Wednesday. Hopkins racked up 27 points, shooting 6-for-12 from the field and 13-for-15 at the free-throw line against the Huskies.
After Saturday's game, the Johnnies return home for two of the next three, beginning with Butler on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. inside Carnesecca Arena.
An audio broadcast of the game on the LEARFIELD Red Storm Sports Network with John Minko and Brandon Tierney will also 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. St. John's radio broadcast can also be heard on SiriusXM channel 389 and channel 979 on the SiriusXM app.
St. John's (11-5, 1-4 BIG EAST) will look to shake off its recent 96-85 setback to Marquette on Tuesday. Senior center Joel Soriano delivered a 22-point, 13-board performance against the Golden Eagles for his NCAA-leading 13th double-double. The Red Storm's big man hit 10-of-17 from the floor and sank both of his free throws. Dylan Addae-Wusu chipped in a career-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting and drained three 3-pointers.
The Johnnies, who are 3-3 in games outside of Queens this season, will also look to pick up their first win inside Amica Mutual Pavilion, formerly known as Dunkin' Donuts Center, since defeating the Friars on Jan. 25, 2017. In that contest, Shamorie Ponds scored 22 points, shooting 4-for-5 from distance and hit all eight of his free-throw attempts in a 91-86 victory over Providence.
Saturday's contest marks the 121st all-time meeting in the series with the Friars. St. John's owns a 64-56 advantage against its fellow charter member of the BIG EAST Conference. The Johnnies have won three of the last five games in the series, including a 92-81 road win inside Alumni Hall during the 2021-22 campaign.
Soriano and Providence's Bryce Hopkins will battle on Saturday to keep their respective spots atop the conference leaderboard in scoring and rebounding during league play. Hopkins holds a slight edge averaging 19.6 points to Soriano's 18.6 per contest in BIG EAST games. However, the Red Storm's big man leads the league with 11.8 boards while the Friars' wing ranks second with 10.8 per contest.
Saturday's matchup also features the top two rebounding teams in the BIG EAST this season. The Red Storm has pulled down a conference-leading 41.1 boards per contest (10th in NCAA) and 13.5 offensive rebounds per game (16th in NCAA). The Friars sit just behind the Johnnies in both categories, posting 40.3 total rebounds and 13.0 offensive boards, while leading the league and ranking fifth in the nation with a +9.6 rebound margin.
Providence is riding an eight-game win streak and has not dropped a contest since a Nov. 30 visit to TCU. The Friars own a perfect 9-0 record at Amica Mutual Pavilion this season, which includes their most recent 73-61 victory over No. 4/5 UConn on Wednesday. Hopkins racked up 27 points, shooting 6-for-12 from the field and 13-for-15 at the free-throw line against the Huskies.
After Saturday's game, the Johnnies return home for two of the next three, beginning with Butler on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. inside Carnesecca Arena.
Players Mentioned
Open Practice Press Conference 8.5.2025
Tuesday, August 05
St. John's Basketball Adidas Launch Media Availability7.16.25
Wednesday, July 16
Coach Pitino Press Conference Yankee Stadium 6.4.2025
Wednesday, June 04
Rick Pitino: 2024-25 Coach of the Year in Review
Friday, May 09