Battle For Big East Supremacy Sunday At MSG

 

The scene at Madison Square Garden during St. John's win over Xavier on January 22nd. Photo by Jason Schott.

Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden will feature a matchup between the St. John's Red Storm and Creighton Bluejays to see who will reign supreme in the Big East Conference.

St. John's enters ranked No. 9 in the AP Poll and No. 8 in the USA Today poll, with a record of 21-4 and 12-2 in Big East play, first place in the conference.

Creighton is ranked 24/21 and they are 18-7 overall, and 11-3 in the Big East. They beat St. John's, 57-56, on New Year's Eve, the only conference loss for the Red Storm until they lost at Villanova Wednesday night, 73-71.

Tipoff will be at 3:00 p.m., and it will be Johnnies Day, a chance for St. John's to celebrate the university's proud history and its contributions around the world.

The University encourages the entire St. John’s community,  as well as the city that St. John’s has called home since 1870, to share their St. John’s pride and school spirit in person and on social media during the game. Fans can start their Johnnies Day celebration at Stout for the 1870 Court pregame event starting at 1:30 p.m. until tipoff.

In addition to the men’s basketball game, the St. John’s women’s basketball team will play the Butler University Bulldogs at approximately 5:30 p.m.

“This season, we have witnessed a resurgence in interest in St. John’s Basketball—and we know how much our global fanbase supports our team, especially here in New York City,” stated Rev. Brian J. Shanley O.P., President, St. John’s University.

Fans and friends of the university in New York City and beyond are encouraged to share their school spirit throughout the day by posting photos and videos showing St. John’s pride on social media, with the hashtags #SJUElevates and #JohnniesDay. Tag @StJohnsU for a chance to win a $500 VISA® gift card. 

PITINO PREGAME: St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino spoke to the media on Friday afternoon ahead of the game:

On what made Villanova so difficult:“Villanova, probably, is the worst matchup for us of any team that we've faced because you can't help [on defense] as much. You can't help on [Eric] Dixon as much when you trap them. You can't help both the shooters. They put five shooters on the floor when they take the center out and it's very difficult for us.”

 

On the team’s three-point shooting: “I was actually very happy with 37 three-point attempts [against Villanova] because if we're going to be a decent tournament team, we need to get our three-point shooting back. Where we take them when they're there and we stop people from packing it in. ... In order for us to be a decent tournament team, if we make it, we've got to be a good shooting team where people aren't just going to dare us to shoot. They're not going to give us anything else if we don't start making them.”

 

On RJ Luis Jr.’s performance against Villanova: “He had an off night. But I will say, everybody on the team had an off night defensively, not just RJ, and I think they got the message that if they don't play St. John's defense, they'll sit.”

 

On paying attention to the national rankings: “I’m just taking it one game at a time, taking nothing for granted. We blew a situation to get into the top six or seven in the nation by not playing great defense. So, I don't pay attention to anything. I take nothing for granted.”

On his team’s ability to fight through a whole game: “They didn't have it and they just kept fighting on the road. I was impressed with them. Their willingness to fight, their spirit to fight. Never give up, even though it's not going well, is a remarkable trait. They have a lot of weaknesses as a basketball team, but it's a remarkable trait to have. I'd rather have that trait than anything else in basketball.”