Seton Hall Pregame Links

As St. John's has soared back into the Top 25 for the first time in more than a decade, it has knocked off six ranked opponents, most recently dispatching Villanova in Philadelphia on Saturday.

Now, with wins at Seton Hall tomorrow and at home against South Florida on Saturday night -- both under .500 -- to close out the regular season, St. John's would clinch a double-bye in next week's Big East conference tournament at the Garden.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/eyes_on_prize_WSjJz04IuK2g9Ck2M6Gs7K#ixzz1FVF8ORc1

Hoops hysteria is sweeping across St. John's University - and the city - now that the red-hot Red Storm basketball team has soared to No. 15 in the rankings and is virtually assured of making the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002.

And after beating Villanova over the weekend, students at the Jamaica, Queens, school are starting to dream of winning it all.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/03/02/2011-03-02_st_johns_basketball_teams_march_to_tourney_creates_hoops_hysteria_for_surge_in_q.html#ixzz1FVFReVKn

No team in the country has beaten more Top 25 teams than St. John's. The Red Storm, however, must focus on beating two lesser opponents this week to earn a double-bye in the Big East tournament.

It's been 13 years since St. John's won a road game against Seton Hall, and the No. 15 Red Storm will look to end that streak Thursday night by posting their seventh straight win.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/gametracker/preview/NCAAB_20110303_STJNNY@SETON/st-johnsseton-hall-preview

Winners of six straight and eight of their last nine to remain among the top four in the conference standings, looking for their first 20-win campaign since 2002-03, off to their best BIG EAST start since 1999-2000 and 2-0 while playing as a ranked team for the first time in 11 seasons, head coach Steve Lavin and the No. 15/15 St. John's men's basketball team (19-9, 11-5 BIG EAST) meets local BIG EAST rival Seton Hall (11-17, 5-11 BIG EAST) in Newark on Thursday. The Red Storm takes on the Pirates at the Prudential Center at 7 p.m. in a contest that will be televised nationally on ESPN2, with legendary announcers Dave Pasch and Doris Burke sitting alongside St. John's legend Chris Mullin. The matchup can be viewed via the Internet at www.ESPN3.com, and heard live on the official flagship of St. John's Basketball, Bloomberg Radio 1130-AM, and on RedStormSports.com (subscription), with John Minko and analyst Tarik Turner.

http://www.redstormsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/030211aaa.html


Quotes

http://www.redstormsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/030111aaa.html

If you sit in on a Steve Lavin news conference, you're practically guaranteed to hear one catchphrase in particular -- likely on multiple occasions.

"Hammer to rock" has become a mantra of sorts for St. John's. It's Lavin's metaphor for the hard work he asks for and expects from his players on a daily basis.

Some people may believe Lavin and his staff are nothing short of magicians for what they've accomplished with this Red Storm squad (19-9, 11-5 Big East), currently ranked No. 15 in the country heading into their game Thursday night at Seton Hall (11-17, 5-11).

But look a little deeper, and the explanation might be much simpler.

"I think this is just a prime example of hard work paying off," forward Sean Evans said after St. John's defeated Villanova on Saturday in Philadelphia.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/ncb/columns/story?columnist=darcy_kieran&id=6173252

Lavin on Van Pelt


http://espn.go.com/espnradio/player?rd=1#/podcenter/?callsign=ESPNRADIO&autoplay=1&id=6175461

Hardy interview on Francesa

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/?podcast_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.podtrac.com%2Fpts%2Fredirect.mp3%2Fnyc.podcast.play.it%2Fmedia%2Fd0%2Fd0%2Fd0%2FdW%2FdZ%2FdI%2Fd4%2FWZI4_3.MP3%3Fauthtok%3D5561393208004739155_m0VD3l5EIxlMI8dhKycnWoE4&podcast_name=Dwight+Hardy&podcast_artist=Mike+Francesa&station_id=62&tag=pages&dcid=CBS.NY

Lavin on Francesa

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/?podcast_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.podtrac.com%2Fpts%2Fredirect.mp3%2Fnyc.podcast.play.it%2Fmedia%2Fd0%2Fd0%2Fd0%2FdW%2FdZ%2FdG%2FdP%2FWZGP_3.MP3%3Fauthtok%3D5561393210762483650_lIahlo5fVOpiAakXwdQxPPgQaE&podcast_name=Steve+Lavin&podcast_artist=Mike+Francesa&station_id=62&tag=pages&dcid=CBS.NY

'We're both in the metropolitan area, and they're getting a lot of publicity because they've been winning. We want to try to spoil that just so we could be the talk of the town and the metropolitan area.' Seton Hall guard Jeremy Hazell

Motivation comes in all forms this time of the season.

For St. John's, the motivation to take out Seton Hall tonight in the Prudential Center is obvious. If the Red Storm wins tonight and beats South Florida Saturday at home in its final regular-season game, it will have a double-bye in the upcoming Big East Conference Tournament.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/seton_hall_eager_john_spoil_party_hGMeqARaCnzHuzFVtuFq8L#ixzz1FXfeKgmt

St. John's has paid its admission and stood in the line. Now it's ready to hop on an emotional roller-coaster. And this one is surely going to be a five-ticket ride.

The prevailing sentiments among the Red Storm players are excitement and focus. The No. 15 Johnnies (19-9, 11-5) need to win Thursday night's 7 p.m. game against Seton Hall (11-17, 5-11) and Saturday's regular-season finale against South Florida to wrap up a top-four seeding and a double-bye into the quarterfinals of next week's Big East tournament and also a likely top-four seeding in the NCAA Tournament the week after.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2011/03/03/2011-03-03_st_johns_eyes_wins_over_seton_hall_south_florida_to_improve_big_east_ncaa_tourna.html

This old-school Big East game renews the local rivalry between Seton Hall and St. John's. The Pirates have gotten the better of St. John's lately, winning 7 of the last 10 games, but as everyone who has paid the least bit of attention to the Big East this year, this year you can throw recent history out the window.

http://www.southorangejuice.com/2011/3/2/2025338/seton-hall-basketball-jps-scouting-report-st-johns-red-storm

Isn’t this what it will all boil down to? In the Johnnies’ eight games last month, Hardy dropped 25-plus points four times and only once (at UCLA) did his team lose. It’s pretty obvious that as Hardy goes, so goes St. John’s. Seton Hall needs to limit his touches, but more importantly, his trips to the foul line — he’s taken 45 foul shots over the last four games.

http://www.nj.com/setonhall/index.ssf/2011/03/seton_hall_gameday_pirates_nee.html