St. John's University Athletics
Friday, February 7
Storrs, Conn. (Gampel Pavilion)
8 p.m.
St. John's University
at
No. 19/18 UConn
No. 12/10 St. John’s Visits No. 19/18 UConn for Friday Night Showdown on FOX
2/6/2025 3:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Red Storm men’s basketball team readies for a battle with two-time defending National Champion Huskies at Gampel Pavilion
QUEENS, N.Y. – The No. 12/10 St. John's men's basketball team (20-3, 11-1 BIG EAST) will hit the road to meet the two-time defending National Champion No. 19/18 UConn (16-6, 8-3 BIG EAST) in a Friday night showdown inside Gampel Pavilion at 8 p.m. on FOX.
The Red Storm has won 15 of its last 16 contests, including nine straight victories, and stands alone atop the BIG EAST standings. On Friday, St. John's will play its first road contest since rolling past Georgetown, 66-41, on Jan. 28 at Capital One Arena.
FOX will carry the national telecast with Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson on the call from Storrs, Conn. 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 Tarik Turner 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 138 or 201 and via the SiriusXM App.
The Johnnies earned another signature win on Tuesday, downing No. 11/11 Marquette, 70-64, inside Madison Square Garden. The victory marked the program's highest ranked win inside "The World's Most Famous Arena" since it defeated then-No. 4/5 Duke on Feb. 3, 2018. The triumph also marked St. John's first victory in a top 15 matchup since it moved past Maryland in the 1999 Sweet 16, 76-62.
On Friday, the Red Storm looks to earn back-to-back wins against top 20 opponents in the same week for the first time since the 2005-06 season, when it down No. 17/15 Louisville and No. 9/9 Pittsburgh from Jan. 17-21, 2006. In the history of the Associated Press Top-25 Poll that first launched in 1950, the Johnnies have only defeated two top 20 opponents in the same week three times (1952, 1985 and 2006).
Hall of Fame Coach Rick Pitino, who has a well-documented track record of year two improvements, has already matched last season's win total in just 23 games, the best start since 1985-86. The active winningest coach in NCAA Division I reached 20 wins on Tuesday for the 29th time in his career and the 19th instance in his last 20 seasons as a collegiate coach.
In the win over Marquette, St. John's dominated the boards outrebounding the Golden Eagles, 50-28, including 21-5 on the offensive glass. The plus-22 rebounding margin marked the program's largest in a BIG EAST regular season game since it outrebounded then-No. 9 West Virginia, 49-25, on Jan. 29, 2006. The Johnnies pulled down 50 or more boards for the fourth time this season. The squad ranks first in the conference and eight nationally in rebounds per game (41.5).
The Red Storm has won with its stellar defense this season, ranking fourth nationally in KenPom.com allowing just 88.8 points per 100 possessions. The Johnnies also rank in the upper echelon nationally in a slew of statistical categories, such as blocks per game (4th at 5.8), turnovers forced per game (13th at 15.7), turnover margin (15th at +4.2), field goal percentage defense (17th at 39.4%), steals per game (19th at 9.2), scoring defense (29th at 65.1) and rebounding margin (23rd at +6.8).
In its last win, three St. John's players- Kadary Richmond, RJ Luis Jr. and Zuby Ejiofor posted double-doubles, marking the first time three players tallied double-doubles in a single-game since a double-overtime win at DePaul on Valentine's Day in 2023.
Richmond has been on a tear averaging 21.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 8.0 assists over his last two appearances. After tallying an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double in Midtown against the Golden Eagles, the graduate student surpassed the 700-career rebound threshold to become the only active player in NCAA Division I to record at least 1,500 points, 700 rebounds and 600 assists in his career.
Luis Jr. and Ejiofor each tallied their seventh double-double of the season which tops the BIG EAST. Luis Jr. joins Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner as the only player in the conference to rank top five in scoring (4th at 17.4 PPG) and rebounding (5th at 6.8 RPG). The junior was named to the Oscar Robertson Trophy and Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award watch lists earlier this week. Ejiofor has tallied double-figure scoring efforts in 15 games this season and he is nine rebounds shy of 200 total boards on the year.
Friday's coaching matchup will feature two of only three active NCAA Division I coaches with multiple national championships. Pitino and Dan Hurley will meet on the sidelines for the fifth time and the first-ever top-25 meeting between the two.
UConn will return home after a road victory last weekend at then-No. 9/9 Marquette, 77-69. The Huskies hold a 16-6 overall record and an 8-3 mark in the BIG EAST. The two-time defending National Champions have dominated on their home courts, boasting a 10-1 record at Gampel Pavilion and the XL Center.
Reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week Solo Ball has strung together as stellar sophomore campaign and is averaging 15.0 points on 45.6 shooting from beyond-the-arc, which ranks sixth-best in the country. Alex Karaban ties Ball for the team-lead in scoring with 15.0 points per contest and Hassan Diarra paces the squad with 6.4 assists per contest.
The Johnnies lead the all-time series, 37-34, however the Huskies have captured four-straight, including the last meeting in St. John's first trip to the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinals since 2000, a 95-90 UConn victory on March 15, 2024. The Red Storm's last win came on Jan. 15, 2023, when it sunk then-No. 6/7 UConn, 85-74. The Red Storm is looking for its first win at Gampel Pavilion since Jan. 18, 2021.
Friday night marks the first of two straight road games for the Red Storm, as it will pay a visit to Villanova on Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. on FS1.
The Red Storm has won 15 of its last 16 contests, including nine straight victories, and stands alone atop the BIG EAST standings. On Friday, St. John's will play its first road contest since rolling past Georgetown, 66-41, on Jan. 28 at Capital One Arena.
FOX will carry the national telecast with Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson on the call from Storrs, Conn. 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 Tarik Turner 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 138 or 201 and via the SiriusXM App.
The Johnnies earned another signature win on Tuesday, downing No. 11/11 Marquette, 70-64, inside Madison Square Garden. The victory marked the program's highest ranked win inside "The World's Most Famous Arena" since it defeated then-No. 4/5 Duke on Feb. 3, 2018. The triumph also marked St. John's first victory in a top 15 matchup since it moved past Maryland in the 1999 Sweet 16, 76-62.
On Friday, the Red Storm looks to earn back-to-back wins against top 20 opponents in the same week for the first time since the 2005-06 season, when it down No. 17/15 Louisville and No. 9/9 Pittsburgh from Jan. 17-21, 2006. In the history of the Associated Press Top-25 Poll that first launched in 1950, the Johnnies have only defeated two top 20 opponents in the same week three times (1952, 1985 and 2006).
Hall of Fame Coach Rick Pitino, who has a well-documented track record of year two improvements, has already matched last season's win total in just 23 games, the best start since 1985-86. The active winningest coach in NCAA Division I reached 20 wins on Tuesday for the 29th time in his career and the 19th instance in his last 20 seasons as a collegiate coach.
In the win over Marquette, St. John's dominated the boards outrebounding the Golden Eagles, 50-28, including 21-5 on the offensive glass. The plus-22 rebounding margin marked the program's largest in a BIG EAST regular season game since it outrebounded then-No. 9 West Virginia, 49-25, on Jan. 29, 2006. The Johnnies pulled down 50 or more boards for the fourth time this season. The squad ranks first in the conference and eight nationally in rebounds per game (41.5).
The Red Storm has won with its stellar defense this season, ranking fourth nationally in KenPom.com allowing just 88.8 points per 100 possessions. The Johnnies also rank in the upper echelon nationally in a slew of statistical categories, such as blocks per game (4th at 5.8), turnovers forced per game (13th at 15.7), turnover margin (15th at +4.2), field goal percentage defense (17th at 39.4%), steals per game (19th at 9.2), scoring defense (29th at 65.1) and rebounding margin (23rd at +6.8).
In its last win, three St. John's players- Kadary Richmond, RJ Luis Jr. and Zuby Ejiofor posted double-doubles, marking the first time three players tallied double-doubles in a single-game since a double-overtime win at DePaul on Valentine's Day in 2023.
Richmond has been on a tear averaging 21.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 8.0 assists over his last two appearances. After tallying an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double in Midtown against the Golden Eagles, the graduate student surpassed the 700-career rebound threshold to become the only active player in NCAA Division I to record at least 1,500 points, 700 rebounds and 600 assists in his career.
Luis Jr. and Ejiofor each tallied their seventh double-double of the season which tops the BIG EAST. Luis Jr. joins Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner as the only player in the conference to rank top five in scoring (4th at 17.4 PPG) and rebounding (5th at 6.8 RPG). The junior was named to the Oscar Robertson Trophy and Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award watch lists earlier this week. Ejiofor has tallied double-figure scoring efforts in 15 games this season and he is nine rebounds shy of 200 total boards on the year.
Friday's coaching matchup will feature two of only three active NCAA Division I coaches with multiple national championships. Pitino and Dan Hurley will meet on the sidelines for the fifth time and the first-ever top-25 meeting between the two.
UConn will return home after a road victory last weekend at then-No. 9/9 Marquette, 77-69. The Huskies hold a 16-6 overall record and an 8-3 mark in the BIG EAST. The two-time defending National Champions have dominated on their home courts, boasting a 10-1 record at Gampel Pavilion and the XL Center.
Reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week Solo Ball has strung together as stellar sophomore campaign and is averaging 15.0 points on 45.6 shooting from beyond-the-arc, which ranks sixth-best in the country. Alex Karaban ties Ball for the team-lead in scoring with 15.0 points per contest and Hassan Diarra paces the squad with 6.4 assists per contest.
The Johnnies lead the all-time series, 37-34, however the Huskies have captured four-straight, including the last meeting in St. John's first trip to the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinals since 2000, a 95-90 UConn victory on March 15, 2024. The Red Storm's last win came on Jan. 15, 2023, when it sunk then-No. 6/7 UConn, 85-74. The Red Storm is looking for its first win at Gampel Pavilion since Jan. 18, 2021.
Friday night marks the first of two straight road games for the Red Storm, as it will pay a visit to Villanova on Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. on FS1.
Players Mentioned
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