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Game Preview: St. John’s travels cross borough to Bronx to meet Fordham

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The hangover from Thanksgiving is finally over and St. John’s is back on the hardwood to face off against the Fordham Rams. It’s been 7 days since the Red Storm played Chaminade in the Maui Invitational.

Despite the time off the Red Storm are still expected to be without Malik Ellison (ankle) and Darien Williams (shoulder). Despite being without these two players the Red Storm will gain a fresh body in Kassoum Yakwe who was unexpectedly cleared by the NCAA on Nov 25th. Felix Balamou will also be back in the lineup after missing 1 game due to a foot injury.

Game Info

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Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Location: Rose Hill Gym, Bronx, NY
Time: 7:00 PM EST
TV: A10 Network (online only)
Radio: 570 WMCA

Key Matchup

Federico Mussini vs Mandell Thomas

Fordham is led by senior Mandell Thomas who enters the game extremely hot averaging 18ppg. On the flip side freshman Federico Mussini has led the Red Storm this season averaging 17ppg. Will the experience of Thomas outweigh the talent of Mussini? Can Mussini out duel the New York native?

Keys to Victory

  • Crack Fordham’s chip- Fordham’s roster is filled with New York players who were passed up by Big East schools and most noticeably St. John’s. Other New York schools have a chip on their shoulder and really get up to play St. John’s. The Red Storm need to be assertive early and weather the early adrenaline of Fordham until their chip eventually cracks.
  • Be more physical- It seems to be like a theme every game but the Red Storm need to be more physical. St. John’s needs to make everything uneasy for Fordham with a real focus on rebounding the basketball on the defensive end.
  • Play at your pace- St. John’s can not let Fordham speed them up with full court pressure. The Red Storm need to play in control and take care of the basketball in their own backcourt. This can be aided by by playing good defense, forcing misses, and rebounding the basketball. If Fordham starts making shots early (shooting 50% as a team on the season) then they will be able to set up their defense which could cause problems for the Johnnies on the road.
  • Work inside, out- St. John’s has done a great job of establishing a post presence early in games and running their offense through Yankuba Sima and even Christian Jones. This shouldn’t change and the Red Storm need to attack Ryan Rhoomes and Christian Sengfelder.Photo by Anthony Gruppuso © USA TODAY Sports Images.

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