East Meets West As UCLA Invades MSG

You can call it the Steve Lavin Bowl, except the coach will not be directly involved in the on-court proceedings.

Tomorrow afternoon at Madison Square Garden, Lavin’s St. John’s team faces its final non-conference test of the season when they take on Lavin’s old UCLA outfit in a rematch of last year’s homecoming for the head coach in Westwood that saw UCLA close out the Red Storm in a matchup with a foul disparity heavily favoring the Bruins. Will the program with the most championships walk away from the “Mecca of college basketball” victorious? JohnnyJungle.com catches you up on all the particulars before tomorrow’s matinee.

Date: Saturday, February 18, 2012
Location: Madison Square Garden; New York, New York
Time: 1:00 PM EST
TV: CBS (Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery)
Radio: WBBR 1130 AM (John Minko, Tim O’Toole)

St. John’s Red Storm (10-16)
Head Coach: Steve Lavin* (2nd season at STJ; 31-28, 176-106 overall)
*- Assistant coach Mike Dunlap will serve as interim coach while Lavin recovers from offseason prostate cancer surgery

Projected Starting Lineup:
G Phil Greene (6-2 Fr., 7.5 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 36% FG, 75% FT, 3.0 APG, 1.2 SPG)
G D’Angelo Harrison (6-3 Fr., 16.7 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 38% FG, 38% 3pt, 81% FT, 2.0 APG, 1.6 SPG)
F Amir Garrett (6-6 Fr., 6.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 43% FG, 50% FT, 1.1 APG, 1.1 SPG)
F Sir’Dominic Pointer (6-5 Fr., 6.5 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 40% FG, 59% FT, 1.5 APG, 1.0 BPG, 1.7 SPG)
F Moe Harkless (6-8 Fr., 15.9 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 45% FG, 66% FT, 1.4 APG, 1.5 BPG, 1.6 SPG)

Key Reserves:
F God’sgift Achiuwa (6-8 Jr., 9.7 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 54% FG, 68% FT)

Keys To Victory:
– Frontcourt dominance. Against big men Joshua Smith and twins David and Travis Wear, the Red Storm’s inside game will need to be stronger than ever. In that instance, look for God’sgift Achiuwa a little more often in place of Amir Garrett in an attempt to combat the interior presence of the Bruins, who drew fouls seemingly at will the last time these two teams met.

– Defend the three. This should probably be number one after the Red Storm yielded fifteen trifectas against Seton Hall on Tuesday. UCLA comes in shooting 38 percent from beyond the arc as a team, but also gives up the same clip from long range to their opponents. D’Angelo Harrison could be the central focus of the game for St. John’s, as his shooting could make or break the Red Storm tomorrow.

– De facto conference game. UCLA coach Ben Howland; who ironically enough replaced Steve Lavin in Westwood, has Big East experience from being the man who made Pittsburgh a conference powerhouse before Jamie Dixon continued the tradition at the Petersen Center. Howland’s teams are uncharacteristic of Pac-12 squads, and this Big East mentality will give the Red Storm a test comparable to the games they have played recently.

From the City of Angels comes the school known around the world for its historic run under the late great John Wooden.

UCLA Bruins (15-11)
Head Coach: Ben Howland (9th season at UCLA; 204-94, 372-192 overall)

Projected Starting Lineup:
G Lazeric Jones (6-1 Sr., 13.5 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 44% FG, 38% 3pt, 73% FT, 4.3 APG, 1.9 SPG)
G Jerime Anderson (6-2 Sr., 9.0 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 46% FG, 44% 3pt, 61% FT, 4.0 APG, 1.7 SPG)
G Tyler Lamb (6-5 So., 8.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 40% FG, 31% 3pt, 66% FT, 2.8 APG, 1.6 SPG)
F David Wear (6-10 So., 10.4 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 50% FG, 58% 3pt, 80% FT)
F Travis Wear (6-10 So., 11.6 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 53% FG, 43% 3pt, 82% FT, 1.1 BPG)

Key Reserves:
C Joshua Smith (6-10 So., 10.3 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 58% FG, 59% FT)
G Norman Powell (6-3 Fr., 5.1 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 40% FG, 39% 3pt, 60% FT, 1.0 APG)
C Anthony Stover (6-10 So., 0.7 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 39% FG, 33% FT, 1.5 BPG)

Keys To Victory:
– Defense. Ben Howland preaches it probably more than any other coach in the Pac-12, and it is evident in the fact that his Bruins yield just 64 points per game to their opponents on average. Against a St. John’s team that likes to get out in transition and get easy baskets, UCLA will need to channel their inner Wisconsin and employ a grinder’s mentality to close this game out.

– Ball movement. For everything that has been said about the Red Storm transition game, UCLA has one of their own that is just as (if not more) effective. Through 26 games this season, the Bruins average 14 assists and close to eight steals per contest while committing just twelve turnovers a game. Guards Lazeric Jones and Jerime Anderson; both of whom can run the point and play off the ball just as well, each average four helpers per game while also shooting at or above UCLA’s 38 percent three-point average.

– The X-factor. Joshua Smith made as much of a difference in his freshman season against the Red Storm as Gonzaga center Robert Sacre did against St. John’s in the NCAA Tournament. Because of his sheer size, (6-10 and 305 pounds) the sophomore Smith is a player that St. John’s seemingly has no answer for on paper. Smith will be the man to watch whenever UCLA gets the ball in the paint, which can happen early and often against the all-freshman Red Storm starting five.

So, Who Wins?
St. John’s, much like their last few games, has nothing to lose in this matchup. With their postseason hopes pretty much out of reach, the Red Storm can play spoiler for the remaining teams on their ledger, starting with a UCLA unit that is on the bubble in a wide-open Pac-12. For UCLA, a win over the Red Storm may not do as much for their resume as it did a year ago, but a nonconference victory at Madison Square Garden against the Big East still goes a long way with the selection committee. This will be a matchup in which the first to 60 will win, and also one where the most effective transition game comes out on top. While St. John’s excels in transition, UCLA has the experience edge; especially in the backcourt, and that gets them the W.

Final Score: UCLA 67, St. John’s 61