St. John's University Athletics
Sunday, October 18
New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)
12 p.m.
St. John's University
vs
Rutgers (Exhibition)
St. John’s to Host Rutgers in Sunday Exhibition at MSG
10/17/2026 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Red Storm and Scarlet Knights to meet for the third time in the last four seasons
QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's men's basketball team will make its first appearance of the season at Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon, taking on Rutgers in an exhibition contest.
Tickets for the game are on sale now through the St. John's Ticket Office by calling 1-888-GO-STORM or by visiting RedStormSports.com/Tickets.
The game will streamed live on B1G+ with Bob Brainerd and Brian Butch on the call. A special one-time pay-per-view link for non-B1G+ subscribers is available for Sunday's game.
Sunday will mark the first of 15 dates at Madison Square Garden for the Red Storm between now and the start of the BIG EAST Tournament. The Red Storm's 13 regular season games will be the most for the program at The Mecca since 1950-51, when the building was located 15 blocks north of its current location.
Sunday is believed to be just the second-ever St. John's preseason exhibition game at Madison Square Garden. Last October, the Johnnies went toe-to-toe with eventual national champion Michigan, falling to the Wolverines, 96-94, in overtime.
St. John's will play one more exhibition game at The World's Most Famous Arena this month when it welcomes Texas to Midtown on Oct. 25 at 12 p.m.
The Red Storm impressed in its exhibition debut on Wednesday night in Queens, taking down Drexel, 81-52, at Carnesecca Arena. Senior forward Babacar Sane led the way with 17 points and eight boards. Junior guard Ian Jackson, the team's leading returning scorer, also finished in double figures with 10, eight of which came in the second half. Senior guard Quinn Ellis did it all, tallying six assists, six rebounds and four steals. Tounde Yessoufou and Keyshawn Hall finished with nine points apiece.
St. John's is gearing up for its fourth season under Head Coach Rick Pitino. The Hall of Famer has led the Red Storm to consecutive 30-win seasons, just the third and fourth in the 120-year history of the program. The winningest active coach in Division I men's basketball with 915 career victories, Pitino's .764 winning percentage at St. John's is second in school history to only Buck Freeman, who won 85.0% of the games he coached from 1927-36.
From 2000-01 until his hiring in 2023, St. John's failed to advance past the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament and won no NCAA Tournament games in only three appearances. In just three seasons, Pitino has led the Johnnies to two outright BIG EAST Regular Season titles, two BIG EAST Tournament crowns, three NCAA Tournament wins and the program's first Sweet 16 appearance since 1999.
St. John's and Rutgers will meet in a preseason exhibition for the third time in the last four years and the fourth time since 2017. The Red Storm has taken each of the last two exhibitions against the Scarlet Knights, winning in double overtime at home before the start of 2023-24 before downing Rutgers in Piscataway before the following season. In the regular season, St. John's and Rutgers have met 42 times with the Johnnies holding a 28-14 advantage in the series. The Red Storm and the Scarlet Knights spent nearly two decades as BIG EAST conference foes from 1995-2013. The Johnnies went 16-7 against Rutgers during that stretch.
Rutgers is coming off a hard-fought loss in its first exhibition matchup of the preseason against Villanova, 77-75, on Oct. 11. The Scarlet Knights trailed by 11 with less than three minutes to go before their furious late-game rally fell just short.
Darin Smith Jr., last season's NEC Player of the Year at CCSU, scored 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting in addition to pulling down five boards. Virginia Tech transfer Christian Gurdak added 19 points and eight rebounds.
The Scarlet Knights return their leading scorer from a season ago in Tariq Francis. The Pittsburgh native averaged 17.0 points per outing in 2025-26. He shot 35.1% from the 3-point line and 91.1% from the charity stripe.
Following its trio of exhibition contests, the Red Storm will begin the season in earnest on Nov. 2 against Monmouth at Carnesecca Arena. Limited single-game tickets to that contest, which will feature banner unveilings, are still available.
Full-season ticket packages including all games at Carnesecca Arena are sold-out, but Madison Square Garden plans can be purchased by clicking here.
Tickets for the game are on sale now through the St. John's Ticket Office by calling 1-888-GO-STORM or by visiting RedStormSports.com/Tickets.
The game will streamed live on B1G+ with Bob Brainerd and Brian Butch on the call. A special one-time pay-per-view link for non-B1G+ subscribers is available for Sunday's game.
Sunday will mark the first of 15 dates at Madison Square Garden for the Red Storm between now and the start of the BIG EAST Tournament. The Red Storm's 13 regular season games will be the most for the program at The Mecca since 1950-51, when the building was located 15 blocks north of its current location.
Sunday is believed to be just the second-ever St. John's preseason exhibition game at Madison Square Garden. Last October, the Johnnies went toe-to-toe with eventual national champion Michigan, falling to the Wolverines, 96-94, in overtime.
St. John's will play one more exhibition game at The World's Most Famous Arena this month when it welcomes Texas to Midtown on Oct. 25 at 12 p.m.
The Red Storm impressed in its exhibition debut on Wednesday night in Queens, taking down Drexel, 81-52, at Carnesecca Arena. Senior forward Babacar Sane led the way with 17 points and eight boards. Junior guard Ian Jackson, the team's leading returning scorer, also finished in double figures with 10, eight of which came in the second half. Senior guard Quinn Ellis did it all, tallying six assists, six rebounds and four steals. Tounde Yessoufou and Keyshawn Hall finished with nine points apiece.
St. John's is gearing up for its fourth season under Head Coach Rick Pitino. The Hall of Famer has led the Red Storm to consecutive 30-win seasons, just the third and fourth in the 120-year history of the program. The winningest active coach in Division I men's basketball with 915 career victories, Pitino's .764 winning percentage at St. John's is second in school history to only Buck Freeman, who won 85.0% of the games he coached from 1927-36.
From 2000-01 until his hiring in 2023, St. John's failed to advance past the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament and won no NCAA Tournament games in only three appearances. In just three seasons, Pitino has led the Johnnies to two outright BIG EAST Regular Season titles, two BIG EAST Tournament crowns, three NCAA Tournament wins and the program's first Sweet 16 appearance since 1999.
St. John's and Rutgers will meet in a preseason exhibition for the third time in the last four years and the fourth time since 2017. The Red Storm has taken each of the last two exhibitions against the Scarlet Knights, winning in double overtime at home before the start of 2023-24 before downing Rutgers in Piscataway before the following season. In the regular season, St. John's and Rutgers have met 42 times with the Johnnies holding a 28-14 advantage in the series. The Red Storm and the Scarlet Knights spent nearly two decades as BIG EAST conference foes from 1995-2013. The Johnnies went 16-7 against Rutgers during that stretch.
Rutgers is coming off a hard-fought loss in its first exhibition matchup of the preseason against Villanova, 77-75, on Oct. 11. The Scarlet Knights trailed by 11 with less than three minutes to go before their furious late-game rally fell just short.
Darin Smith Jr., last season's NEC Player of the Year at CCSU, scored 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting in addition to pulling down five boards. Virginia Tech transfer Christian Gurdak added 19 points and eight rebounds.
The Scarlet Knights return their leading scorer from a season ago in Tariq Francis. The Pittsburgh native averaged 17.0 points per outing in 2025-26. He shot 35.1% from the 3-point line and 91.1% from the charity stripe.
Following its trio of exhibition contests, the Red Storm will begin the season in earnest on Nov. 2 against Monmouth at Carnesecca Arena. Limited single-game tickets to that contest, which will feature banner unveilings, are still available.
Full-season ticket packages including all games at Carnesecca Arena are sold-out, but Madison Square Garden plans can be purchased by clicking here.
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
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