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

February 1, 2007

The last two teams from the upperhalf of the Big East conference to wander into Madison Square Garden were sent home with a 'L' courtesy of the St. John's Redstorm. St. John's will look to increase their home winning streak to three games tonight when the Georgetown Hoyas come to New York City. Georgetown has won four in a row and they begin a two-game road trip tonight in NYC which will also include a trip to Louisville this weekend.

Here are the pregame stories and previews on tonight's game we have found on the internet this morning:



Hoyas Have Been Handling With Care (Washington Post)
Ewing Jr. Follows Dad's Path to Garden (NY Times)
Hill's Career Could Be Done (Newsday)
Hill May Be Done at SJU (NY Post)
Knee Troubles Shut Down Hill (NY Daily News)

Click below for our brief preview and prediction on this game and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section.

READ REST OF PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW


It is a tough time for St. John's fans today as the news is out that senior guard Daryll Hill will be sidelined for up to 4-6 weeks to try and rehab his injured knee. The best case scenario looks like he might be available for the Big East Tournament if the Redstorm can qualify, but the level of impact he would have is unknown. Hill was a true NYC legend, earning the nickname 'Showtime' for his play in the Rucker Park summer league and averaged 20 PPG as a sophomore for the depleted Redstorm. A bothersome knee has hindered his play the past two seasons and has forced him to shut it down for the time being.

Without Hill, the Redstorm will have to get more production from Larry Wright and Ricky Torres and hope to see consistent offense from Avery Patterson at the 2-guard. Eugene Lawrence is a tough point guard, but their backcourt offense just has not come around with a hobbled Hill. Tonight they have to score against one of the toughest defenses in the country. Georgetown counters St. John's existing strength with size and athletic ability in the frontcourt and will make it very hard for St. John's to score.

On offense, the Hoyas will look to get the ball inside to Roy Hibbert in position to score and run their backdoor cuts from there. If St. John's goes to zone, Jeff Green and Dajuan Summers can step away from the paint and hit out to the 3-pt range and crash the boards with Hibbert. Georgetown has too many options for St. John's to keep up offensively.

Georgetown is a 7.5-pt favorite and a predicted 10-pt winner by the Pomeroy Computer. Georgetown should be able to cover that number.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Georgetown 65 St. John's 54