A Look at St. John's Since Our Last Matchup

[Hey Adrien!]

Owning the second longest winning streak in the nation, St. John's has been red hot over the last seven weeks, combining their gritty, disciplined defense the contains the rare mix of turnover pursuit without giving up an excess of defensive breakdowns leaving players wide open.

The biggest news for St. John's is that Ian Jackson is "hopeful" to return from an ankle injury after missing the game against Creighton. However, despite Jackson and Jason Sanon's scoring disappointments this year (this year, they combined 15.2 ppg in Big East play after each averaged 12 ppg last season) Dylan Darling is showing why he should be the every day starting PG, scoring 16+ points and dishing 3+ assists in three of the last four games.

Obviously, the problems last matchup were Demary's struggles controlling the ball (9 TOs), a massive disparity at the free throw line (UConn was 5-12 from FT while St. John's attempted 31 FTAs!!!) and poor interior D (St. John's was 63% from inside the arc) but in total, the bench played just 28 minutes.

Reibe, Ross and Malachi have played better down the stretch, so combining that with our own home court advantage will tip the advantage our way.

Should be an excellent one!

 

[Icehawk]

Would really like to see us give them a pounding.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

Playing this team is about being tough. Can we bet tougher than them? I have to see it. We have fallen short too often to say otherwise.

 

[jibsey]

We are still being considered for a 1 seed. Need to show why on Wednesday.

 

[HooperScooper]

I thought it was interesting that the ESPN "Matchup Predictor" has UConn with a 70% chance to win the game. That usually equates to about a 5-6 point spread in the betting lines. Seems high. I hope the analytics are right!

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game/_/gameId/401822959/st-johns-uconn

 

[Glastonhusky]

Playing this team is about being tough. Can we bet tougher than them? I have to see it. We have fallen short too often to say otherwise.

Limiting TO's will be the key. That's why I'd like to see Silas and Smith on the court together for stretches. Smith has had his struggles, but he can handle the rock. At the very least, it should allow us to get the ball up court quicker.

 

[Kemba15]

I know we all fear this match-up and rightly so. But there's a bit of a false narrative of how amazing St. Johns has been playing of late. They were losing to Xavier on the road before a big 2H, were down 15 in the 2H at home vs. Seton Hall, needed OT at home to beat Xavier, were trailing late in the 2H vs. Marquette, and were tied with Providence at home when the fight happened. They crushed Creighton at home; we crushed them by the same amount on the road.

To be clear, yes, they're playing better than us, but it's not like they've looked amazing every game or even most of them.

 

[UCFan1513]

Let's ficking destroy them. It would be cathartic on so many levels:
1. Beat allegations that UConn is trending down, and start peaking at the right time of the year
2. Show them who the true boss of the BE is
3. Beat down Pitino and his mercenaries
4. Wipe out their winning streak and not let them win the league outright

 

[gsmooth]

Limiting TO's will be the key. That's why I'd like to see Silas and Smith on the court together for stretches. Smith has had his struggles, but he can handle the rock. At the very least, it should allow us to get the ball up court quicker.

It's not a bad idea. But knowing how smart Pitino is, he will most likely attach Malachi when St. John's is on offense. UConn's defense will have to be on point, especially with help defense principles.

 

[HuskiesFourLife]

Owning the second longest winning streak in the nation, St. John's has been red hot over the last seven weeks, combining their gritty, disciplined defense the contains the rare mix of turnover pursuit without giving up an excess of defensive breakdowns leaving players wide open.

The biggest news for St. John's is that Ian Jackson is "hopeful" to return from an ankle injury after missing the game against Creighton. However, despite Jackson and Jason Sanon's scoring disappointments this year (this year, they combined 15.2 ppg in Big East play after each averaged 12 ppg last season) Dylan Darling is showing why he should be the every day starting PG, scoring 16+ points and dishing 3+ assists in three of the last four games.

Obviously, the problems last matchup were Demary's struggles controlling the ball (9 TOs), a massive disparity at the free throw line (UConn was 5-12 from FT while St. John's attempted 31 FTAs!!!) and poor interior D (St. John's was 63% from inside the arc) but in total, the bench played just 28 minutes.

Reibe, Ross and Malachi have played better down the stretch, so combining that with our own home court advantage will tip the advantage our way.

Should be an excellent one!


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I was at the game at MSG and St. John’s fans were rabid, out of their minds with UConn/ Hurley hate. Needs to be a madhouse Wednesday night. Make the feel UConn nation

 

[ConnEd]

I feel like the key will be how we handle Hopkins and Mitchell. Hopkins is a brutal matchup for Mullins on the defensive end. He can post him, and on drives, he is big enough that he doesn't really need to beat him to be able to get a good shot. Meanwhile, Mitchell is quick enough to negate Alex's activity and dribble-drive on offense. I would take it if Alex can play him to a draw. In general, if we can play them evenish at 3-4-5, our guards should be able to outplay theirs by enough to get the W.