St. John's University Athletics
Wednesday, January 24
New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)
8:30 p.m.
St. John's University
vs
Villanova
St. John’s to Host Villanova in BIG EAST Showdown at MSG
1/23/2024 1:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Red Storm will look to sweep the regular-season series with the Wildcats on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. inside Madison Square Garden
QUEENS, N.Y. – The Red Storm men's basketball team returns to action on Wednesday when St. John's (12-7, 4-4) looks to complete the regular-season sweep of Villanova (11-7, 4-3) at 8:30 p.m. inside Madison Square Garden.
FS1 will carry the national telecast with Jason Benetti and Bill Raftery calling the action from Midtown. An audio broadcast of the game on the LEARFIELD Red Storm Sports Network with John Minko, who will announce his 500th game with St. John's, 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. The radio broadcast can also be heard on SiriusXM channel 390 and the SiriusXM App.
After picking up an 81-71 win at Villanova on Jan. 6, the Johnnies enter Wednesday's contest aiming to sweep the regular-season series for the first time since the 1992-93 season. That year, St. John's also defeated the Wildcats at their on-campus home by earning a 76-70 victory on Jan. 13, 1993. Then on Feb. 27, 1993, Head Coach Brian Mahoney guided the Johnnies to a 65-62 win at Madison Square Garden. St. John's great David Cain averaged a team high 19.5 points and 8.0 assists in the two victories.
In the first meeting this season, Joel Soriano posted a team-high 20 points and eight rebounds in a wire-to-wire victory over the Wildcats. Freshman forward Brady Dunlap also shined, posting a season-best 15 points, shooting 5-for-8 from the field with three 3-pointers in his first career start.
St. John's will also look to bounce back from a heartbreaking 73-72 setback against No. 17/18 Marquette on Saturday at The Garden. The Johnnies nearly rallied all the way back from a 13-point deficit with 6:20 remaining and had two opportunities to take the lead in the final 10 seconds against the Golden Eagles. RJ Luis Jr. led the Red Storm with 20 points while Daniss Jenkins finished with 16 points and Chris Ledlum recorded his fifth double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds).
Soriano reached another career milestone on Saturday becoming the 53rd player in program history to score 1,000 career points in a St. John's uniform. His final bucket with 1:35 remaining marked his 1,000th point as a Johnnie. Soriano is just the 19th player to accomplish the feat in three seasons or less and the first since Julian Champagnie (1,408 points, 2019-22).
St. John's and Villanova will meet for the 131st time in a series that dates back to 1909. The Wildcats are St. John's most frequently played opponent in program history. The Red Storm will try for its first win over Villanova inside "The World's Most Famous Arena" since Feb. 17, 2019. St. John's erased a 19-point first half deficit against the No. 19/19 Wildcats and earned a 71-65 victory before a sold-out crowd. LJ Figueroa registered a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double while Mustapha Heron led the comeback with 14 of his 19 points coming in the second half.
The Wildcats have dropped three of their last four contests, beginning with its loss to St. John's on Jan. 6. Villanova is coming off a 66-65 setback to No. 1/1 Connecticut on Saturday at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The Wildcats nearly erased an 11-point deficit and took the Huskies to the wire, thanks in part to 15-point efforts from TJ Bamba and Justin Moore.
Red-shirt senior Eric Dixon is the Wildcats' leading scorer this season averaging 14.9 points to go with 6.4 rebounds per contest. Moore has averaged 12.2 points per game and has shot a team best 96.4 percent (27-28 FT) at the free-throw line. As a team, Villanova leads Division I shooting 81.8 percent at the charity stripe.
After hosting Villanova, the Red Storm will return to action on Jan. 31 taking on Xavier in Cincinnati.
FS1 will carry the national telecast with Jason Benetti and Bill Raftery calling the action from Midtown. An audio broadcast of the game on the LEARFIELD Red Storm Sports Network with John Minko, who will announce his 500th game with St. John's, 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. The radio broadcast can also be heard on SiriusXM channel 390 and the SiriusXM App.
After picking up an 81-71 win at Villanova on Jan. 6, the Johnnies enter Wednesday's contest aiming to sweep the regular-season series for the first time since the 1992-93 season. That year, St. John's also defeated the Wildcats at their on-campus home by earning a 76-70 victory on Jan. 13, 1993. Then on Feb. 27, 1993, Head Coach Brian Mahoney guided the Johnnies to a 65-62 win at Madison Square Garden. St. John's great David Cain averaged a team high 19.5 points and 8.0 assists in the two victories.
In the first meeting this season, Joel Soriano posted a team-high 20 points and eight rebounds in a wire-to-wire victory over the Wildcats. Freshman forward Brady Dunlap also shined, posting a season-best 15 points, shooting 5-for-8 from the field with three 3-pointers in his first career start.
St. John's will also look to bounce back from a heartbreaking 73-72 setback against No. 17/18 Marquette on Saturday at The Garden. The Johnnies nearly rallied all the way back from a 13-point deficit with 6:20 remaining and had two opportunities to take the lead in the final 10 seconds against the Golden Eagles. RJ Luis Jr. led the Red Storm with 20 points while Daniss Jenkins finished with 16 points and Chris Ledlum recorded his fifth double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds).
Soriano reached another career milestone on Saturday becoming the 53rd player in program history to score 1,000 career points in a St. John's uniform. His final bucket with 1:35 remaining marked his 1,000th point as a Johnnie. Soriano is just the 19th player to accomplish the feat in three seasons or less and the first since Julian Champagnie (1,408 points, 2019-22).
St. John's and Villanova will meet for the 131st time in a series that dates back to 1909. The Wildcats are St. John's most frequently played opponent in program history. The Red Storm will try for its first win over Villanova inside "The World's Most Famous Arena" since Feb. 17, 2019. St. John's erased a 19-point first half deficit against the No. 19/19 Wildcats and earned a 71-65 victory before a sold-out crowd. LJ Figueroa registered a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double while Mustapha Heron led the comeback with 14 of his 19 points coming in the second half.
The Wildcats have dropped three of their last four contests, beginning with its loss to St. John's on Jan. 6. Villanova is coming off a 66-65 setback to No. 1/1 Connecticut on Saturday at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The Wildcats nearly erased an 11-point deficit and took the Huskies to the wire, thanks in part to 15-point efforts from TJ Bamba and Justin Moore.
Red-shirt senior Eric Dixon is the Wildcats' leading scorer this season averaging 14.9 points to go with 6.4 rebounds per contest. Moore has averaged 12.2 points per game and has shot a team best 96.4 percent (27-28 FT) at the free-throw line. As a team, Villanova leads Division I shooting 81.8 percent at the charity stripe.
After hosting Villanova, the Red Storm will return to action on Jan. 31 taking on Xavier in Cincinnati.
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard/Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Center
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