Cincinnati Pregame Links Rematch

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2011/02/13/2011-02-13_storm_out_to_pop_bearcats_bubble.html

That's why Lavin didn't want his team to spend too much time enjoying the win over the Huskies. He didn't even give the Johnnies the two hours to bask in it that he allowed after the Jan. 30 upset of Duke, circling the name Cincinnati on a blackboard in the postgame locker room.

"We already circled Cincinnati and talked about while it would be natural to want to celebrate and party with your classmates and enjoy this win, we just can't afford to," Lavin said. "We have to wait until spring (to celebrate) and sacrifice if we're going to do something special....Cincinnati is now the biggest game of the season to help build our case."


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2011/02/13/2011-02-13_storm_out_to_pop_bearcats_bubble.html#ixzz1Dpcxdp7D

Father and son had a father-and-son talk before the season started.

Dwight Cannon wanted to know the thoughts and feelings of his son, Dwight Hardy, going into his senior season at St. John's. There had been a coaching change and no one knew what role Steve Lavin would have for the guard from The Bronx.

"He said, 'All I want to do is make the [NCAA] Tournament,' " Cannon told The Post after the Red Storm's 89-72 demolition of Connecticut that might help the Johnnies realize that goal.

"That's his goal, to lead St. John's back to the NCAA Tournament," Cannon added. "He and all the seniors are tight on that. They want to get there and they don't care who the star is. You see in the way they played [against UConn] and against Duke."

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/hardy_strengthens_storm_surge_in_BEuV85k3elmRSUiRxTq8gN#ixzz1DqkjsJ1T

When Yancy Gates banked in the game-winning shot at St. John's on Jan. 22, he provided the University of Cincinnati with its most impressive Big East win this season.

The Bearcats won that game because they survived a season-high 17 turnovers, because St. John's went 12 of 26 from the free throw line and because Gates came up big when his teammates needed him.

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In St. John's six Big East wins Hardy has averaged 20.1 points compared with 9.4 in the Red Storm's five losses.

Read More:
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110212/SPT0101/102130387/Can-UC-survive-Storm-?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Sports|p

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-yorkcolleges/post/_/id/1610/w2w4-st-johns-at-cincinnati

EARLY ENERGY? The Red Storm will be just 63 hours removed from a huge victory over No. 9 UConn at Madison Square Garden -- a win after which many pundits placed St. John's in the Big Dance for the first time since 2002. But Steve Lavin's bunch still has plenty of work to do. They need three more wins in their final seven regular-season games to finish .500 (9-9) in the Big East, which would be very significant come Selection Sunday. They might still get in at 8-10, but do you really want to take that chance?

Watch and see if St. John's has intensity early, or if there is a hangover from the UConn victory. It won't help that it's a road game, and an early tip-off.