Sunday, October 25
New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)
12 p.m.
St. John's University
vs
No. 7 Texas (Exhibition)
10/24/2026 9:19:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Watch (ESPN+)Live StatsSt. John's Game Notes (PDF)Texas Game Notes (PDF)Buy TicketsVIDEO: Rick Pitino Media Availability
Red Storm and Longhorns to tip at 12 p.m. on MSG Network and ESPN+
QUEENS, N.Y. – The No. 13/14 St. John's men's basketball team will play its final preseason exhibition game on Sunday when it hosts No. 7/7 Texas at Madison Square Garden. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m.
Tickets to the top-15 contest can be purchased by clicking here. Admission to the game is also included in a St. John's Madison Square Garden Plan, which secures your seat for all 13 regular season games that the Red Storm will host this year inside The World's Most Famous Arena.
Fans who cannot make it to The Mecca can catch the game on MSG Network with a simulcast available on ESPN+. David Resnick and Tykera Carter will call the action live from Midtown.
Both St. John's and Texas are coming off appearances in last season's Sweet 16. The Red Storm's trip to the second weekend, which followed the program's second consecutive sweep of the outright BIG EAST Regular Season and BIG EAST Tournament titles, was the Johnnies' first since 1999.
Sunday's matchup against Texas will be the Red Storm's third exhibition game of the preseason. The Johnnies downed Drexel, 81-52, on Oct. 14 at Carnesecca Arena before outlasting Rutgers, 104-99, in a four-overtime marathon this past Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
Junior guard Ian Jackson is the Red Storm's leading scorer through two exhibition games, averaging 17.0 points per outing. Jackson and graduate student Keyshawn Hall each poured in 24 points during the Johnnies' four-overtime win over Rutgers last Sunday. Hall, who averaged more than 19 points per game at Auburn last season, went a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe and pulled down 14 boards against the Scarlet Knights.
The Red Storm's leading scorer in the Drexel game with 17 points, Babacar Sane posted 13 points against Rutgers despite playing just 15 minutes. Sophomore guard Tounde Yessoufou added 15 points to go along with five rebounds and three steals against Rutgers.
Quinn Ellis did not lead the Johnnies in scoring during either of their exhibition games, but arguably no player had a greater effect on the Red Storm's wins than he did. Against Rutgers, the senior guard from England finished with 13 points, nine assists, eight rebounds, four blocks, two steals and only one turnover in 56 minutes of action.
Earlier this month, Jackson and Yessoufou were both selected to the Preseason First Team All-BIG EAST. Yessoufou was one of just three unanimous picks to the league's top preseason squad alongside Marquette's Nigel James Jr. and UConn's Braylon Mullins.
St. John's and Texas have played twice during the regular season in the history of the two programs. The last meeting between the teams came 20 years ago, when a lanky freshman by the name of Kevin Durant scored 29 points and grabbed 10 boards to lead Texas past St. John's, 77-76, in the consolation game of the 2KSports Classic at Madison Square Garden. St. John's took the first meeting between the programs, an 84-76 win in the second round of the 1991 NCAA Tournament in Dayton, Ohio. Billy Singleton scored a career-high 21 points while Malik Sealy added 19 points and 12 rebounds to help punch the Redmen's ticket to the Sweet 16.
Ranked seventh in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 poll, the Longhorns will make their public preseason debut on Sunday at The Garden.
The Longhorns were predicted to finish second in the league by a preseason vote of the SEC's coaches behind only Florida, the overwhelming pick at the top of AP Preseason Top 25 as the nation's no. 1 team. Texas placed a pair of its players on Preseason All-SEC Team, as Matas Vokietaitis earned a spot on the Preseason All-SEC Second Team and David Punch earned a nod to the Preseason All-SEC Third Team.
Vokietaitis, a 7-foot center was the Longhorn's second leading scorer and rebounder a season ago on a team that won 21 games and reached the Sweet 16, averaging 15.6 points and 7.1 boards per outing. Punch, a 6-foot-7 forward, played last season at TCU, leading the Horned Frogs in both scoring and rebounding at 14.1 points and 6.8 boards per contest.
The Longhorns also welcomed the no. 4 recruiting class in the country according to 247Sports, featuring two of the top-25 freshmen in the class in Marcus Spears Jr. (no. 6) and Austin Goosby (no. 24).
The Red Storm will officially open the 2026-27 season on Monday, Nov. 2, when it welcomes Monmouth to Carnesecca Arena. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Tickets to the top-15 contest can be purchased by clicking here. Admission to the game is also included in a St. John's Madison Square Garden Plan, which secures your seat for all 13 regular season games that the Red Storm will host this year inside The World's Most Famous Arena.
Fans who cannot make it to The Mecca can catch the game on MSG Network with a simulcast available on ESPN+. David Resnick and Tykera Carter will call the action live from Midtown.
Both St. John's and Texas are coming off appearances in last season's Sweet 16. The Red Storm's trip to the second weekend, which followed the program's second consecutive sweep of the outright BIG EAST Regular Season and BIG EAST Tournament titles, was the Johnnies' first since 1999.
Sunday's matchup against Texas will be the Red Storm's third exhibition game of the preseason. The Johnnies downed Drexel, 81-52, on Oct. 14 at Carnesecca Arena before outlasting Rutgers, 104-99, in a four-overtime marathon this past Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
Junior guard Ian Jackson is the Red Storm's leading scorer through two exhibition games, averaging 17.0 points per outing. Jackson and graduate student Keyshawn Hall each poured in 24 points during the Johnnies' four-overtime win over Rutgers last Sunday. Hall, who averaged more than 19 points per game at Auburn last season, went a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe and pulled down 14 boards against the Scarlet Knights.
The Red Storm's leading scorer in the Drexel game with 17 points, Babacar Sane posted 13 points against Rutgers despite playing just 15 minutes. Sophomore guard Tounde Yessoufou added 15 points to go along with five rebounds and three steals against Rutgers.
Quinn Ellis did not lead the Johnnies in scoring during either of their exhibition games, but arguably no player had a greater effect on the Red Storm's wins than he did. Against Rutgers, the senior guard from England finished with 13 points, nine assists, eight rebounds, four blocks, two steals and only one turnover in 56 minutes of action.
Earlier this month, Jackson and Yessoufou were both selected to the Preseason First Team All-BIG EAST. Yessoufou was one of just three unanimous picks to the league's top preseason squad alongside Marquette's Nigel James Jr. and UConn's Braylon Mullins.
St. John's and Texas have played twice during the regular season in the history of the two programs. The last meeting between the teams came 20 years ago, when a lanky freshman by the name of Kevin Durant scored 29 points and grabbed 10 boards to lead Texas past St. John's, 77-76, in the consolation game of the 2KSports Classic at Madison Square Garden. St. John's took the first meeting between the programs, an 84-76 win in the second round of the 1991 NCAA Tournament in Dayton, Ohio. Billy Singleton scored a career-high 21 points while Malik Sealy added 19 points and 12 rebounds to help punch the Redmen's ticket to the Sweet 16.
Ranked seventh in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 poll, the Longhorns will make their public preseason debut on Sunday at The Garden.
The Longhorns were predicted to finish second in the league by a preseason vote of the SEC's coaches behind only Florida, the overwhelming pick at the top of AP Preseason Top 25 as the nation's no. 1 team. Texas placed a pair of its players on Preseason All-SEC Team, as Matas Vokietaitis earned a spot on the Preseason All-SEC Second Team and David Punch earned a nod to the Preseason All-SEC Third Team.
Vokietaitis, a 7-foot center was the Longhorn's second leading scorer and rebounder a season ago on a team that won 21 games and reached the Sweet 16, averaging 15.6 points and 7.1 boards per outing. Punch, a 6-foot-7 forward, played last season at TCU, leading the Horned Frogs in both scoring and rebounding at 14.1 points and 6.8 boards per contest.
The Longhorns also welcomed the no. 4 recruiting class in the country according to 247Sports, featuring two of the top-25 freshmen in the class in Marcus Spears Jr. (no. 6) and Austin Goosby (no. 24).
The Red Storm will officially open the 2026-27 season on Monday, Nov. 2, when it welcomes Monmouth to Carnesecca Arena. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Players Mentioned
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