Game Preview: St. John’s takes on UMBC

The undefeated Red Storm (1-0) faces off against the Retrievers, University of Maryland Baltimore County (0-1) at Carnesecca Arena tonight. This is the opening on campus game of the Maui Invitational Tournament.

UMBC showed in their first game of the season they can shoot the basketball. Three of their starters had more than 5 attempts from beyond the arc. Overall as a team they shot 9-25 from deep and will certainly look to do the same against the Red Storm.

This contrasts completely from what the Red Storm encountered in their opener against Wagner. Wagner was very anemic offensively but challenged defensively and on the boards. The Retrievers had a -23 rebounding margin against Wake Forest, but their shooting kept them within two possessions.  It will be another interesting test for Mullin’s squad.

Game Info:

Date: Monday, November 16th, 2015
Location: Carnesecca Arena, Queens Campus
Time: 7:00 PM EST
TV: Fox Sports 1, FoxSports GO App
Radio: 970 WYNM

Key Match-up

Federico Mussini vs Jourdan Grant

Grant is a quick guard who likes to create havoc on both sides of the ball. He gave five star freshman Bryant Crawford all he could handle in the opener. Grant will look to get to the rim and while he is more pass first oriented he’ll also get to the line. Mussini has struggled defensively and this could be a real problem especially if he picks up a few cheap fouls early.

Keys to Victory

• Force tough shots, keep them out of the paint– It’s no secret UMBC will jack from anywhere so make every shot a difficult one. Guys will need to lock up their man and not fall into the trap of collapsing which will leave guys open on the perimeter. Keep your man in front and trust your rim protecters.
• Don’t play their game- If UMBC starts out the game cooking from three, St. John’s can’t try and match them. Get to the rim and assert your dominance athletically. While St. John’s shot really well from three in the opener it is a bit of fool’s gold.
• Go inside, early and often- UMBC does not have an answer for Yankuba Sima or Christian Jones. Get Sima the ball early inside and let him go to work. This will open up the perimeter game as well. Jones will be able to bully his way to the hoop if he can catch, pivot, and face up.
• Good things will happen when you rebound- When you play a team who likes to chuck there will be plenty of rebounding opportunities. There are two objectives: Stop second chance points and get into transition. Long shots will produce long rebounds so this is going to be a team effort.