LINKS: Georgetown Visits St. John’s at MSG on Tuesday Night

Johnnies ranked “26th” and looking strong defensively

Your Georgetown Hoyas (12-4, 3-2 Big East) return to the court on Tuesday, January 14th for a highly anticipated matchup against the St. John’s Red Storm (14-3, 5-1) at the World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM, with the game airing live on Peacock. John Fanta, Donny Marshall, and Caroline Pineda will be on the call with Rich Chvotkin heard on Team 980 and on SiriusXM 983, for his 51st season.

The Hoyas, still smarting from a 68-60 defeat against then-No. 9/10 UConn on Saturday, will aim to regain their winning momentum in this crucial conference clash.

Peacock is available for $7.99 a month but students, teachers, military, first responders and medical personnel appear to be able to get a 50% discount. Reddit is probably a decent place to look for more or if you want to be ridiculed by teenagers and nerds.

This iteration of Hoyas-Johnnies carries more weight than games in recent history. While a mid-January-Tuesday-night date could chill ticket sales, the expectation is that the atmosphere will be high-energy for a competitive battle.

Both teams have relied on their defense this season. St. John’s has earned a few wins by shutting teams down late and Georgetown needs to find a way to score second-half points against a quality opponent or end up on a three-game losing streak. Getting buckets (or free throws) reduces transition defense.

Matching the physicality is imperative, but capitalizing on open looks and drawing fouls will be the key to closing out in this conference this season.

Here are the links:

St. John’s men’s basketball game preview: Georgetown | Rumble In The Garden

Freshman center Thomas Sorber is playing a significant role in Georgetown’s defensive resurgence, ranking second in the Big East and fifteenth nationally in blocks per game (2.4). The top-50 ranked newcomer from Trenton, New Jersey is the runaway favorite to win Big East Freshman of the Year, averaging a team-high 14.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 3.7 stocks (2.4 blocks and 1.3 steals) per game. Sorber will likely receive plenty of consideration in this year’s NBA draft due to his polished post game, physical and disciplined defense, and savvy playmaking. Expect the Hoyas’ precocious neophyte to make his presence felt on Tuesday night.

Fifth-year senior and TCU transfer Micah Peavy brings consistent offense and the defensive edge Georgetown lacked last season, leading the Hoyas in steals with 2.3 swipes per game. Peavy is a handful for opposing guards and wings, standing at 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds. The Cibolo, Texas native is averaging 13.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.9 assists while shooting 45.2% from the field, 30.8% from three, but is a tepid 67.5% from the free throw line and also gives up a team-high 2.9 turnovers per game.

Georgetown Men’s Basketball Faces St. John’s at World’s Most Famous Arena | Georgetown University Athletics

Sorber leads the squad on the glass grabbing 8.5 rpg, which leads the league, followed by Drew Fielder (5.5 rpg) and Peavy (5.0 rpg).

Mack paces the offense dishing out 4.6 apg with Peavy right behind him with 3.9 apg.

Peavy is tied for 24th in the country and ranks second in the BIG EAST in steals per game, picking 2.31 pockets per game.

Sorber has five double-doubles to his name, tied for second in the league. The five double-doubles are tied for third nationally among freshmen.

Defensively, the team ranks third in the league in steals per game (8.5). The Hoyas are forcing opponents to commit 14.38 turnovers per game, which ranks third in the conference.

In league games, Georgetown is third in the BIG EAST in field goal percentage, boasting an impressive 46.9% shooting efficiency.

RJ Luis Jr., St. John’s set sights on Georgetown | FLM

Luis produced his big game after Deivon Smith injured his right shoulder in the first half and was unable to finish the game after trying to briefly play through it in the second. He is day-to-day with a sprained right shoulder and could play Tuesday.

Georgetown (12-4, 3-2) is significantly improved after losing a combined 73 games in the previous three seasons thanks to the presence of Thomas Sorber, who is the league’s top rebounder (8.5) and is second in blocked shots (2.4).

The Hoyas are coming off consecutive eight-point losses to No. 7 Marquette and No. 14 UConn. Sorber struggled to get into the offense, scoring 11 points against Marquette and nine in Saturday’s 68-60 loss to UConn, when the Hoyas allowed a 17-2 run to start the second half and trailed by as many as 23 before making a late charge.

Georgetown was held below 70 points for the third straight time, fourth time in league play and eighth time overall. The Hoyas were able to stay in both of their previous games thanks to a defense that held the Huskies to 41.4 percent after halftime following five straight games of holding foes below 40 percent from the field.

RV/ RV St. John’s to Return to Madison Square Garden to Face Georgetown on Tuesday Night – St. John’s University Athletics | St. John’s University Athletics

Luis Jr. recorded 10 rebounds in Saturday’s win for a third straight double-double and sixth of the season. The wing joins teammate Zuby Ejiofor for the league lead and 31st nationally in that category. Ejiofor has been the catalyst for a dominant rebounding stretch as of late. The Garland, Texas native ranks third in the BIG EAST, averaging 8.1 boards per game and has collected seven or more rebounds in each of his last 14 contests. The junior ranks second in NCAA Division I, pulling down 4.7 offensive rebounds per game.

St. John’s has dominated the glass, boasting a plus-18 rebounding margin over its last two outings. The Red Storm have risen up the national rankings, checking in at eighth in rebounds per game (42.0), 10th in offensive boards per game (14.9) and 22nd in rebounding margin (+7.8), all marks that lead the BIG EAST.

The Johnnies rank sixth in the country in defensive efficiency, according to the advanced metrics of [KenPom]. The swarming defense allows just 91.9 points per 100 possessions and is forcing 15.6 turnovers per game. The Red Storm rank fourth nationally averaging 6.1 blocks per game.

St. John’s pulls away late to top Villanova at Madison Square Garden | VU Hoops

St. John’s responded with an and-1 from Kadary Richmond, and he would return by hitting the go-ahead basket to give St. John’s a 55-54 lead with 7:47 left. The Johnnies would never relinquish the lead the rest of the way, but it remained close until that run at the end.

St. John’s dominated the glass, outrebounding the ‘Cats 44-28. It also brought the heat defensively to slow down Dixon. Dixon did get into more of an offensive groove in the second half and finished with 18 points on 6-of-19 shooting overall. He was 4-for-9 from beyond the arc.

Poplar paced the Wildcats with 22 points, including his 1,000th career point. Jhamir Brickus had 13 points and six boards.

For St. John’s, R.J. Luis had a 30-point, 10-rebound double-double. Luis went 16-of-20 from the free-throw line. Aaron Scott and Deivon Smith each had 12 points. Ejiofor finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Three takeaways and perspective from St. John’s men’s basketball’s gutsy win over Villanova | Rumble In The Garden

Despite pushing the tempo whenever they could, the Johnnies only committed nine turnovers, continuing a trend over the last four games. St. John’s committed nine against Creighton, ten against Butler, and seven against Xavier, which averaged just under nine per game.

The top team in the NCAA for this season in avoiding turnovers is Marquette, having 9.0 over the season. Over the season, the Johnnies rate 80th with 11.1 per game. But the last four games – just under nine. In contrast, a competitive Michigan team has 15.4 turnovers per game.

As the Johnnies continue to work hard, they are working together more efficiently, even in an offense that pushes tempo. The consistent improvement demonstrated in these last four games, coupled with their high-ranking defense, suggests the Johnnies should be competitive in all games, even those against Marquette and Connecticut.

Deivon Smith refuses to rule himself out for St. John’s clash with Georgetown after scary injury | New York Post

“It’s pretty sore. I’m moving a lot better than I was on Saturday,” he said. “But right now I’m pretty sore, heavily treating it.”

Smith, the team’s engine and starting lead guard, suffered the injury while going for a loose ball late in the first half of the Johnnies’ win over Villanova when he collided with Wooga Poplar. Smith heard a minor crack upon impact.

He called it one of the three most painful moments of his life.

He stayed down and then immediately went to the locker room. He came out for the second half in a sling. At one point, after stretching the arm out, he took off the sling and sat next to coach Rick Pitino on the bench, telling him, “Put me in, I’m ready to play.” Smith did get in the game for three minutes after halftime, but was extremely limited and didn’t take a shot.

St. John’s basketball versatility, mental toughness remains big reason for optimism | Storm The Paint

The Johnnies used seven 3-pointers, a rarity for this squad, in addition to a relentless motor on the offense glass to turn 17 offensive rebounds into 15 second chance points as well as efficient free throw shooting to secure the victory.

Smith sat for a majority of the second half and St. John’s looked lost without him. A 4-point lead with 9:12 remaining felt like a much larger deficit than it was, but this version of the Johnnies had an answer – as it usually does.

St. John’s responded again, just like it did against Providence, Butler, Creighton, and Xavier, when Villanova tied the game with 4:19 to play, holding an efficient offense to just one made basket for the rest of the game.

The Breakfast Buffet: Indiana eyes a signature win against Illinois, St. John’s bench, SEC needs to a better job spacing out games | College Hoops Today (Rothstein)

The primary six players in Rick Pitino’s rotation — Deivon Smith, Kadary Richmond, Simeon Wilcher, RJ Luis, Aaron Scott, and Zuby Ejiofor — have combined to score 86.3 percent of the Red Storm’s points this season entering tonight’s game against Georgetown at MSG. While that’s not likely to drastically change moving forward, St. John’s still needs more mileage out its reserves.

With sophomore guard Brady Dunlap still out indefinitely due to a hand injury, this team currently does not have another active player who averages double figure minutes. Keep a close eye a pair of freshmen — Jaiden Glover and Rubin Prey — who may be able to give Pitino extended time as January progresses into February.