No. 15/14 St. John’s Heads to Georgetown

QUEENS, N.Y. – Off to its best record through 20 games in 35 years, the No. 15/14 St. John's men's basketball team (17-3, 8-1 BIG EAST) will head to the nation's capital to square off with Georgetown (13-7, 4-5 BIG EAST) on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

The Red Storm hold a 17-3 record through 20 games matching its best mark since it held the same record through that span during the 1989-90 campaign. The Johnnies sit tied for first in the BIG EAST standings with an 8-1 record and will look to move to 9-1 in conference for the first time since the 1984-85 campaign. That team, led by legendary Head Coach Lou Carnesecca won the BIG EAST Regular Season title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Final Four.

Tuesday's game from Capitol One Arena will air on FS1 with John Fanta and Donny Marshall on the call from Washington D.C. Live stats will be available on RedStormSports.com.

An audio broadcast of the game on the LEARFIELD Red Storm Sports Network with John Minko and Vin Parise 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 radio channel 380 and via the SiriusXM App.

The Red Storm have been on fire as of late winning 12 of its last 13 games, including six-straight victories. The six consecutive BIG EAST wins is the program's longest streak in a single-season since 2014, when it captured the same number of victories from Feb. 1 to Feb. 18. The 12 wins in a 13-game span are the Johnnies' highest total since the 2018-19 campaign, when it opened the season at 14-1.

The Johnnies continued to rise in the national polls on Monday sliding up to No. 15 in the Associated Press poll and No. 14 in the USA Today Coaches' poll. The coaches' poll ranking marked the program's highest since March 13, 2000.

St. John's has been relentless in its comeback efforts, holding a 6-1 record when trailing at halftime. In its last contest on Wednesday against Xavier, the Red Storm erased a 16-point deficit for the second time during conference play and downed the Musketeers in overtime, 79-71, inside Madison Square Garden. The Johnnies are averaging a BIG EAST 42.8 points in the latter stanza outscoring opponents by 9.25 points over the final 20 minutes. The second half scoring margin ranks fourth-most in NCAA Division trailing a trio of top-five teams in Duke, Iowa State and Florida.

Four players- Kadary Richmond, Zuby Ejiofor, RJ Luis Jr. and Simeon Wilcher all tallied 16 points or more in the winning effort against Xavier in Manhattan. Richmond tallied a team-high 19 points and added seven boards, five assists and three steals. The Brooklyn native was tabbed to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday is averaging 12.2 points, 6.0 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game over the six-game winning streak.

In Wednesday's win, the Red Storm made just one three-point field goal, marking the second time in the last six games the team has made just one shot from beyond-the-arc and won. St. John's is the only team in NCAA Division I this season to make one 3-point field goal or fewer and win multiple times this season.

The Red Storm have dominated on the glass outrebounding 15 of its 20 opponents this season. The squad ranks eighth in the country in rebounds per game (41.7) and 10^th in offensive boards per contest (14.7). Ejiofor ranks third in the BIG EAST grabbing 8.2 boards per game and leads the nation with 4.5 offensive rebounds per game. The Garland, Texas native has pulled down seven or more rebounds in 17 straight games, the longest active streak in NCAA Division I. St. John's ranks third in the nation blocks per game at 6.2 with Ejiofor pacing the squad with 1.9 per contest, which ranks third and the league and 29^th in the country.

The two longtime conference rivals will meet for the second time this season. In the first matchup, St. John's rallied from a 14-point second half deficit to edge the Hoyas, 63-58, on Jan. 14 at Madison Square Garden. The Red Storm engineered a 19-2 run early in the second half to swing the momentum and earn its eight straight victory in the series. Luis Jr. paced the Johnnies with 19 points and Aaron Scott added 14.

St. John's has won eight consecutive meetings against Georgetown, which marks its longest win streak in the series since it won 10 meetings over the Hoyas from 1949-72. The Hoyas have won 31 of 55 meetings in the series at home.

Georgetown heads into Tuesday's contest with a 13-7 record and a 4-5 mark in BIG EAST competition. After starting league play 3-0, its best since the 2011-12 season, the Hoyas dropped five of their last six contests. In its last time out, the group made a late-game push but ultimately fell at Providence on Saturday afternoon, 78-68. Thomas Sorber (25) and Micah Peavy (27) each finished with career-best's and combined for 52 of the Hoyas' 68 points.

Sorber leads the team averaging 14.8 points and 9.1 boards per game, the latter of which leads the BIG EAST. The four-time BIG EAST Freshman of the Week ranks 14^th in NCAA Division I logging 2.4 blocks per game. Peavy scored a game-high 21 points in the first meeting between St. John's and Georgetown and is averaging 19.5 points per game over his last four appearances.

Following Tuesday's visit to Washington D.C., St. John's will return to Madison Square Garden on Saturday for a noon tip against Providence on CBS Sports Network. To purchase tickets for the nationally-ranked Johnnies next contest at the World's Most Famous Arena, click here.

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Players Mentioned

Zuby Ejiofor

Kadary Richmond

Aaron Scott

Simeon Wilcher

St. John's University Athletics