Before facing the 11-4 Providence Friars at Madison Square Garden last night, St. John’s was 11-4 overall and 3-1 in Big East Conference play, tied for third place with the University of Connecticut and Villanova University, which were also 3-1 and right behind 4-1 Seton Hall. The Red Storm lost a close road game to UConn on December 23, falling 69-65.
Last season under former head coach Mike Anderson, St. John’s was a respectable 18-15 but just 7-13 in conference games in the 11-team league. They ended in seventh place and failed to earn a postseason spot for the third consecutive year.
This season, under first-year head coach and 2013 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Rick Pitino, who led Kentucky to the 1996 NCAA title and Louisville to the 2013 championship (it was later vacated due to rules violations) the Red Storm has their sights set on making it to the March Madness field of 68.
“I want to make the NCAA Tournament,” said St. John’s senior center Joel Soriano, who is having an All-Big East campaign thus far, averaging team-highs of 17.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game through the Red Storm’s first 15 games.
“I want to play Friday night, [deep into] the Big East tournament, win 20-plus games this year, and really just win. That has been my goal since I’ve been here.”
The 6-11 Yonkers, New York, native, who attended Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York, and played his first two years of college hoops at Fordham, was voted the Big East’s Most Improved Player last season and named All-Big East Second Team.
The Red Storm had their first win on the Villanova campus in over three decades on Saturday, handing the Wildcats their first Big East conference loss of the season with an 81-71 victory.
St. John’s, who had not won on their competitor’s campus since 1993, were led by Soriano with 20 points. Senior guard Daniss Jenkins, who played for Pitino a year ago at Iona College, scored 18 points, dished out 5 assists, and had 3 steals. The victory was even more impressive as starting senior power forward Chris Ledlum sat out with a sprained ankle.
Freshman small forward Brady Dunlap has been a spark for the Red Storm since entering the starting lineup against the Butler Bulldogs on January 2, notching his first two games in double-figures with 13 points versus Butler and 15 points against Villanova, nailing three three-pointers in each game.
St. John’s will have two challenging road games ahead, taking on No. 22-ranked Creighton on Saturday (1 p.m. on Fox) and Seton Hall on Tuesday (8:30 p.m. on Fox Sports 1).
