No. 22/20 St. John’s to Square Off with Georgia in The Bahamas

NASSAU, Bahamas – Fresh off a 25-point victory over Virginia in its final contest of the Baha Mar Hoops Championship, the No. 22/20 St. John's men's basketball team (5-1) will wrap up its three-game stretch in The Bahamas against Georgia (5-1) inside Imperial Arena at Atlantis Paradise Island Resort on Sunday.

Tip-off is scheduled for 11 a.m. CBS Sports Network will carry the national telecast with Chris Hassel and Pete Gillen on the call.

An audio broadcast of the game on the LEARFIELD Red Storm Sports Network with John Minko and Brian Mahoney 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 SiriuxXM radio channel 392 and via the SiriusXM App.

The Johnnies split their two contests as part of the Baha Mar Hoops Championship, falling by one-point in double-overtime to No. 13/14 Baylor before rolling past Virginia. The Red Storm averaged 89.0 points per game and shot 53.7 percent (66-123 FG) from the field in the tournament. The Johnnies also shot 50.0 percent (24-48 3FG) from behind the arc as senior wing Aaron Scott led the way with seven 3-pointers.

RJ Luis Jr. earned All-Tournament Team honors after leading five Johnnies who averaged double figures with 17.0 points on 48.1 percent (15-29 FG) shooting from the floor with five 3-pointers. The Miami native also recorded 4.5 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 3.0 assists per game.

After dropping a heartbreaker on Thursday at the buzzer to the Bears, 99-98, the Johnnies dominated Virginia, earning an 80-55 victory on Friday. The Red Storm became the first non-conference opponent to score 80 or more points on Virginia since Gonzaga downed the Cavaliers, 98-75, on Dec. 26, 2020.

St. John's will face Georgia for just the fourth time in program history. The Johnnies hold a 2-1 lead over the Bulldogs in the series. St. John's earned a 66-56 victory in its last meeting with the Bulldogs on Dec. 9, 2009, at Madison Square Garden. A balanced scoring effort for the Johnnies was led by Dwight Hardy (12 points), DJ Kennedy (11 points) and Justin Brownlee (10 points) in the SEC/BIG EAST Invitational matchup.

The Johnnies will also try for its first win against a SEC school since an 89-65 routing of South Carolina on Nov. 29, 2012. D'Angelo Harrison rattled off 26 points in the winning effort while Amir Garrett and Phil Greene IV chipped in 15 and 13 points apiece, respectively.

Georgia is coming off an 80-69 setback to No. 15/15 Marquette on Saturday morning at Atlantis. Blue Cain led the Bulldogs with 17 points and shot 5-for-10 from distance. Georgia coughed up 18 turnovers as the Golden Eagles scored 27 points off the mishaps.

Entering Saturday's matchup with Marquette, the Bulldogs ranked first in the nation in rebounding margin (+15.5), sixth in Division I in blocks per game (6.2 bpg) and seventh in free throws made per game (21.0). Freshman big man Asa Newell leads Georgia in both scoring (15.5 ppg) and rebounding (7.2 rpg), starting all six games this season.

The Johnnies will return home after its contest with the Bulldogs to face Harvard (2-4) on Saturday at Carnesecca Arena. The Red Storm has won six consecutive contests against Ivy League foes since 2010, most recently earning an 82-71 victory over Brown on Dec. 10, 2019. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.

No. 22/20 St. John’s to Square Off with Georgia in The Bahamas

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Players Mentioned

RJ Luis Jr.

Aaron Scott

St. John's University Athletics