St. John’s Returns Home, Renews Rivalry With St. Francis

If you’re a fan of St. John’s basketball, chances are you have a bitter taste in your mouth from the two heartbreaking losses the Red Storm suffered this past week at Madison Square Garden, falling to Arizona and Texas A&M on consecutive days in the final minutes.

Tuesday night, St. John’s returns to Carnesecca Arena to host St. Francis for the first time in almost three years.

The last time these two schools met, back on December 1, 2008, St. John’s struggled to put the Terriers away, despite taking a 19-point halftime lead into the locker room.

The Red Storm fended off a few St. Francis comeback attempts on the way to a 69-61 victory. In fact, both of the last two meetings between the schools have been decided by eight points, as St. John’s won in 2007, 72-64.

Despite the personnel changes, Brooklyn meets Queens once again, and JohnnyJungle.com will get you caught up on the latest installment of this intra-city rivalry with the information below.

Date: Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Location: Carnesecca Arena; Jamaica, New York
Time: 9:00 PM EST
TV: ESPN3 (espn3.com) via STJ-TV (Tony Luftman, Tarik Turner)
Radio: WBBR 1130 AM (John Minko, Tim O’Toole)
Online: WSJURadio.org (Tim Dimas, Jon Perez)
SFCAthletics.com (Seth Cantor, Jaden Daly)

St. John’s Red Storm (3-2)
Head Coach: Steve Lavin (2nd season, 24-14; 169-92 overall)

Projected Starting Lineup:
G Nurideen Lindsey (6-3 So., 15.8 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 50% FG, 58% FT, 3.8 APG, 2.2 SPG)
G Malik Stith (5-11 Jr., 5.4 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 59% FG, 67% 3pt, 71% FT, 1.2 APG)
G D’Angelo Harrison (6-3 Fr., 14.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 39% FG, 33% 3pt, 77% FT, 1.6 APG, 2.0 SPG)
F God’sgift Achiuwa (6-8 Jr., 12.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 62% FG, 77% FT)
F Moe Harkless (6-8 Fr., 14.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 43% FG, 58% FT, 1.4 APG, 1.8 BPG, 1.8 SPG)

Key Reserves:
F Sir’Dominic Pointer (6-5 Fr., 4.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 57% FG, 67% 3pt, 40% FT, 1.0 SPG)
G Phil Greene (6-2 Fr., 5.8 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 42% FG, 38% 3pt, 67% FT, 1.4 APG, 1.2 SPG)

Keys To Victory:
– Get in transition. St. Francis has turned the ball over 45 times through their first three games, including 23 in their season opener against Seton Hall, who, like St. John’s, competes in the Big East. Most of the Terrier miscues came late in the second half while St. Francis was trying to put the game away against a Pirates team that they had outplayed, to that point. St. John’s is an admittedly better team in the final twenty minutes, so if they can get St. Francis flustered on the offensive end after the opening tip, the conditions on the court will be in their favor from start to finish.

– Defend the perimeter. Look for sharpshooters Stefan Perunicic and Ben Mockford (more on them later) to get a lot of open looks early for the Terriers given the matchup zone that Steve Lavin will employ to start the game. The real key is whether or not the shots will fall, but if the Red Storm can get to the three-point line and contest most of the opportunities beyond the arc, it could be a long night for St. Francis.

– Make use of the size advantage. St. Francis starts two forwards that are significantly undersized in Travis Nichols and Akeem Johnson, and no player on their roster is taller than 6-8. This gives God’sgift Achiuwa and Moe Harkless the opportunity to establish themselves under the boards on each defensive possession for the Red Storm. In addition, don’t be surprised to see a lot of Sir’Dominic Pointer in this game, as the Red Storm can use their athleticism to their advantage against a smaller St. Francis lineup.

Making the trip from Brooklyn for the first time since 2008 are the St. Francis Terriers.

St. Francis Terriers (0-3)
Head Coach: Glenn Braica (2nd season, 15-18)

Projected Starting Lineup:
G Dre Calloway (6-0 Sr., 10.3 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 37% FG, 60% FT, 3.7 APG, 1.3 SPG)
G Ben Mockford (6-2 So., 11.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 31% FG, 30% 3pt, 75% FT, 1.0 APG)
G Stefan Perunicic (6-6 Sr., 9.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 37% FG, 32% 3pt, 60% FT, 1.0 APG)
F Travis Nichols (6-4 Jr., 17.3 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 61% FG, 62% 3pt, 80% FT)
F Akeem Johnson (6-6 Jr., 7.0 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 50% FG, 46% FT, 1.7 BPG)

Key Reserves:
G Brent Jones (5-10 So., 3.7 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 26% FG, 3.7 APG)
F Kevin Douglas (6-5 Fr., 3.7 PPG, 1.3 RPG, 38% FG, 33% 3pt, 100% FT)
F Jalen Cannon (6-6 Fr., 2.3 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 30% FG, 50% FT, 1.0 SPG)

Keys To Victory:
– Experience. Whereas no one on the St. John’s staff has any intimate knowledge of St. Francis except for director of basketball operations Maurice Hicks, (who coached Dre Calloway at Rice High School) the Terriers boast two players in Stefan Perunicic and reserve guard Justin Newton who played against St. John’s the last time the two schools met in their freshman year of 2008. In fact, Perunicic started that game. Moreover, head coach Glenn Braica returns home in a way after spending six seasons as the top assistant on former coach Norm Roberts‘ staff before being hired by St. Francis in the spring of 2010. In addition, you can expect St. Francis to play at least ten (maybe even eleven) players throughout the night, allowing Braica to frequently make use of his bench (in other words, Norm Roberts 2.0) and wear the Red Storm down.

– Good things come in small packages. Travis Nichols is listed at 6-4, (he’s actually more like 6-3 1/2) but he has come into his own this season as the Terriers’ starting power forward. Nichols has already demonstrated he can hold his own against Big East competition, as evidenced by his career-high 25 points and 14 rebounds in the season opener against Seton Hall, where he was matched up against a far bigger and superior talent in Herb Pope. Nichols is also a surprisingly gifted shooter, and can hit from anywhere on the court, (he comes into Tuesday’s game shooting 61 percent from the field and 62 percent from three-point range) creating a matchup problem for any opponent who draws him.

Shot selection. St. Francis is a very streaky team when they shoot the ball. When they’re hot, as they were against Seton Hall when they shot 46% (12-for-26), it could be troubling for their opponents. However, when they’re cold, as they were in recent losses to Lafayette and Hofstra, it gives opposing teams more of a shot, though the Terriers don’t go away on either side of the ball. Glenn Braica will have his team fighting on each possession, so the game will be close no matter what. If St. Francis can play smart and limit their mistakes offensively, we could see something similar to the Seton Hall game last Saturday.

So, Who Wins?
Nothing comes easy at Carnesecca Arena, and the close proximity of the fans to the court may actually favor St. Francis, being that they are used to small crowds being vocal at their home court at the Pope Center. St. John’s has also been no stranger to the early nonconference trap game (think St. Bonaventure and Fordham last season) both under Steve Lavin and before the coach’s arrival in March of 2010. Another interesting dynamic will be watching how the Red Storm recover from the heartbreaking loss in their most recent game Friday, when Nurideen Lindsey missed two free throws that would have won the game for St. John’s. On the other side of the court, the Terriers come in having lost their first three games by just 14 points combined. St. Francis will come out firing right away, and the Terriers definitely have the talent to stay with the Red Storm for forty minutes. It will be close, and in the end, the more experienced team posts the upset, righting the ship for St. Francis; and causing some additional grief for Red Storm fans before the Red Storm return to the court against Northeastern on Saturday.

Final Score: St. Francis 68, St. John’s 65