Coming off a tough home loss to UConn Saturday, Georgetown heads north for the last game of this 3 game gauntlet that has started 0-2 against the best 2 teams in the Big East. The Hoyas will face off against St. John’s (14-3, 5-1 in conference) at the World’s Most Famous Arena tonight at 7:30. These two teams are at the heart of the old Big East and it is very refreshing to see these foes start to get their programs back on track.
The last 2 losses have been tough for Georgetown, but the buzz around the program is definitely still there. After giving away the Marquette game late and a tough second half against UConn, I am curious to see how they respond in another tough road matchup.
The history of this rivalry speaks for itself, dating all the way back to their first ever matchup in 1909. The rivalry came to a head in the 84-85 season, in which the programs were ranked no. 1 and 2 in the country, and the teams met in the Final Four of that year. St. Johns leads the rivalry 67-57 all time, and has won the last 7 matchups between the 2 programs. The hires of Pitino and Cooley 2 years ago were big offseason storylines, as there was hope for both to bring back 2 programs that had struggled in recent years.
The Red Storm are led by RJ Luis Jr, a big guard at 6’7”, who is averaging 17.4 PPG to go along with a respectable 6.6 RPG. Luis Jr is coming off arguably his best game of the season in their win at Villanova, scoring 30 points and grabbing 10 boards. Second in scoring behind Luis Jr. is big man Zuby Ejiofor, averaging 14.7 pts and 8 rebounds. Expect Ejiofor to give Sorber all he can handle. A big storyline for tonight is St. John’s 3rd leading scorer, Deivon Smith (10 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 4.4 APG), is expected to miss tonight’s game per Rick Pitino. I should note that Pitino said to Jon Rothstein, “as of now, he is out” so maybe he ends up giving it a go tonight.
One of the big offseason moves in the Big East was Seton Hall’s Kadary Richmond’s decision to transfer to the Johnnies. Richmond has not been everything that was expected thus far, but he is always a lethal threat going downhill and will be a handful for the Hoyas. The dual guard threat of him and Luis Jr is going to give Peavy, Mack, and Epps a tough challenge on the defensive end of the floor.
St. Johns has won their last 3 games, with their only loss in conference play being by 1 point at Creighton (57-56). KenPom is very high on the Johnnies, slotting them in at 20th overall in the country. They definitely like to play a little faster, ranking 58th nationally in adjusted tempo. The Hoyas, on the other hand, clock in at 137th in tempo. A key for Georgetown tonight is to not let St. Johns get out and run and to avoid giving up fast break points.
The two big matchups tonight to watch for will be Peavy on Luis Jr and Sorber on Ejiofor. If Peavy and Sorber can contain these guys defensively, that will bode very well for the Hoyas. On the other side of the ball, how well Sorber is able to score against Ejiofor will be key as well. St. Johns is a high octane offense, averaging 81.8 PPG this season (2nd in the Big East), limiting their tempo and playing well defensively are massive if the Hoyas want to pull out the win.
This game is now imperative to any chances the Hoyas may have of a NCAA tournament bid. After losing the last 2, there are not that many resume boosting wins left in conference play. A Quad 1 win on the road is desperately needed for Georgetown’s resume. I said going 1-2 in this 3 game stretch would be imperative, and tonight is their last chance to get that win. Overall, expect a good matchup tonight at MSG.
