No. 14/16 St. John’s to Open Players Era Championship Against No. 16/14 Iowa State

Monday, November 24

Las Vegas, Nev. (Michelob ULTRA Arena)

4:30 p.m.

St. John's University

No. 16/14 Iowa State

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Bryce Hopkins filled up the stat sheet with 13 points and 9 rebounds, with four them coming on the offensive end.

No. 14/16 St. John’s to Open Players Era Championship Against No. 16/14 Iowa State

11/23/2025 10:30:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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Red Storm and Cyclones meet on Monday at 4:30 p.m. ET on truTV

LAS VEGAS – The No. 14/16 St. John's men's basketball team will play its first game outside New York City limits this season when it takes on No. 16/14 Iowa State on Monday to open the Players Era Championship.

Tip-off from Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas is set for 4:30 p.m. ET on truTV with Brian Anderson, Grant Hill and Lauren Jbara on the call. Fans can also listen to the game on the LEARFIELD Red Storm Sports Network, as John Minko and Vin Parise will narrate the action on the ESPN New York app, the Varsity Network app, TuneIn, Sirius XM 162 or 201, the SiriusXM app, and the St. John's Red Storm app. Monday's game against the Cyclones is one of just three remaining regular season games that will not appear on either 1050 AM or 880 AM in the New York Metropolitan Area.

In addition to being the Red Storm's debut at the Players Era Championship, Monday's game will also mark the first time in program history that St. John's has played in the city of Las Vegas.

St. John's (3-1) and Iowa State (4-0) enter the week with the two highest-flying offenses in the 18-team Players Era Championship field. Through games played on Friday, the Red Storm ranks eighth nationally averaging 98.5 points per game while the Cyclones rank 13^th with 95.5 points per outing. The Johnnies have posted no fewer than 93 points in any game this season and have scored more points through four games than any St. John's team in the 119-year history of the program.

In its most recent outing on Thursday against Bucknell, the Red Storm blasted the Bison, 97-49, for the team's highest margin of victory of the Rick Pitino Era. Bryce Hopkins and Ian Jackson tallied 20 points apiece to lead five Johnnies in double figures. Hopkins proved incredibly efficient, shooting 7-of-9 from the floor, including a 3-for-4 showing from beyond the arc, for his first 20-point effort since Dec. 26, 2023. Jackson went 6-of-13 from the field and 6-for-6 from the line for his first 20-point game as a Johnnie.

Ruben Prey tallied 14 points, more than doubling his previous career high of six. The 6-foot-11 sophomore made five of his seven field goal tries, including two of his three attempts from 3-point range, and swiped three steals on the defensive end.

Dillon Mitchell stuffed the stat sheet against Bucknell, logging 10 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and three blocks for his 16^th career double-double. Two days prior to the Bucknell game, Pitino named the Cincinnati transfer the Red Storm's third captain, joining Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year Zuby Ejiofor and Sadiku Ibine Ayo. Both Ejiofor and Ibine Ayo are in their third season with the program.

Earlier this week, Hopkins (15.5 ppg), Ejiofor (15.0 ppg) and Jackson (14.5 ppg) were all named to the Preseason Top 50 Watch List for the Wooden Award. It marked the second time that the highly touted trio found their names on a national player of the year watch list, as all three Johnnies were also named to the preseason watch list for the Naismith Trophy earlier this month.

Iowa State enters the game with an unblemished 4-0 record and boasts 33.3-point average margin of victory over FDU, Grambling, Mississippi State and Stonehill.

T.J. Otzelberger's team is led on both sides of the ball by senior guard Tamin Lipsey. The Ames native leads the Cyclones in both scoring (19.0 ppg) and assists (5.3 apg) in addition to being the program's all-time leader in steals with 252. Lipsey has been named at least a semifinalist for the Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year in each of the last two seasons.

Joshua Jefferson (18.8 ppg) and Milan Momcilovic (15.3 ppg) are the other two Cyclones averaging double figures on the season. Jefferson, a Las Vegas native, is the team's leading rebounder at 7.8 boards per contest in addition to dishing out 4.3 dimes per appearance. Momcilovic is the team's top threat from 3-point rage, shooting 43.3% on more than seven attempts per game.

St. John's and Iowa State will face off for the third time in the history of the two programs. Their last meeting came in 2022-23, a 71-60 home victory for the Cyclones in the final season before Pitino took over in Queens. The first game between St. John's and Iowa State occurred on Dec. 21, 1948, a 74-47 victory for the Johnnies inside Madison Square Garden.

After taking on the Cyclones, the Red Storm will play Baylor on Tuesday at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m. ET on truTV and 880 AM ESPN New York.