BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: St. John's @ Georgetown

February 9, 2006

Another of the long-standing rivalries in the Big East reunites this evening when the Redstorm of St. John's travels to the Nation's Capitol to meet the Georgetown Hoyas.

The Hoyas are one of the hottest teams in the country and currently sit right in the thick of the conference race with a 7-2 league record. The Hoyas are back in the meat of their schedule, after their win over Pittsburgh on Sunday, they host SJU tonight before welcoming West Virginia and then hitting the road for Marquette and Villanova. St. John's is a team they better not overlook.

After catching the imagination of their fans with back-to-back home wins over Louisville and Pittsburgh earlier in January, the Redstorm have faced a tough stretch of games that has seen them drop four straight. After tonight, things are a little more reasonable down the stretch as St. John's works to make their way into the mix for an invite to the conference tournament played on their home floor at Madison Square Garden and a possible NIT bid.

Here are the pregame stories and previews from around the internet:

At #15, Hoyas are Older, Wiser (Washington Post)
Hoyas Depth Becoming a Concern (Washington Times)
Battered Storm on Brink (NY Post)
Georgetown Primed for NCAA Return (AP Wire Story)

To read our preview and see our game prediction, click read more below and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section!

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Georgetown looks to continue their run of good play as they host St John's tonight in a Big East game. With a tricky three game stretch ahead, Georgetown can ill-afford a mis-step against the Redstorm, a team they beat handily in their first meeting at Madison Square Garden.

With Brandon Bowman, Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, the Hoyas have potentially one of the best front lines in the nation. They have not seemed to put everything together at the same time, leaving me to believe this team still has some untapped upside to uncover. They will be matched up against Anthony Mason, Aaron Spears and Lamont Hamilton. Although the SJU front line is much improved over last season, it is still a tall order to compete on the road with Georgetown's group up front.

In their first meeting, St John's was without the services of Daryll Hill, out with an injury. Hill is back and teams with Eugene Lawrence in the backcourt and their strength and quickness as a tandem should be a challenging test for the backcourt of Ashanti Cook and Jonathan Wallace for the Hoyas. Playing the Princeton-style offense does alleviate some of the ballhandling chores from the Hoya guards, who could be a little susceptible to the pressure SJU will likely attempt to apply.

St John's can bring Cedric Jackson, Ryan Williams, Phil Missere and Tomas Jasiulionis off the bench while the Hoyas really only look to Darrel Owens off their bench, and he is one of the best 6th men in the conference, and some depth from freshmen Jesse Sapp and Marc Edgerson.

All six of Georgetown's key players average between 8.9 PPG and 11.8 PPG. That balance and spread the floor options will make it very tough for the Redstorm to defend and key on any player. They also have 4 players on the floor at all times that can shoot the ball and handle it, which is where I think they utilize their advantages to hold off St John's tonight, but, a tighter game than expected, as the Hoyas are 11-pt favorites.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Georgetown 68 St John's 60