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QUEENS, N.Y. (Jan. 23, 2022) – For the second time in three days, the St. John’s men’s basketball team will face off against Seton Hall on Monday night.
Originally scheduled to play a game at Prudential Center on Dec. 20 that was postponed due to COVID protocols, the two teams will instead meet at Walsh Gymnasium for the first time since February of 1985. In that contest, St. John’s trailed by as many as 14 early in the second half before the top-ranked, Final-Four-bound Johnnies came back to win by 11. Chris Mullin, that season’s national player of the year, scored 26 points while Walter Berry, the following season’s national player of the year, added 21.
Only Seton Hall students will be permitted to attend Monday’s contest in the 1,316-seat on-campus venue.
The matchup will tip at 9 p.m. on FS1 with Dave Sims and Bill Raftery on the call from South Orange. Fans can also catch the LEARFIELD Red Storm Sports Network broadcast with John Minko and Brandon Tierney on the Varsity Network app, TuneIn Radio, XM Radio channel 385 and channel 975 in the SXM app, RedStormSports.com and the St. John’s Red Storm mobile app.
Monday will mark just the third time in program history and the first in nearly 100 years that St. John’s has played the same opponent in back-to-back regular season games. During the 1924-25 and 1926-27 campaigns, the Johnnies played consecutive contest against Villanova, splitting each of those home-and-homes with the Wildcats. St. John’s and Seton Hall played in back-to-back games last season, as the Red Storm took the regular season finale at Carnesecca Arena before the Pirates prevailed in overtime during the BIG EAST Tournament Quarterfinals.
St. John’s (10-7, 2-4 BIG EAST) will look to snap a two-game BIG EAST skid on Monday. In the team’s 66-60 loss to the Pirates on Saturday, the Red Storm shot a season-low 29.3 percent from the floor and tallied its second-lowest scoring output of the season. The Red Storm’s starting five combined to shoot just 13-of-56 (23.2%) from the floor.
Graduate student Aaron Wheeler led the way offensively for St. John’s on Saturday, reaching double figures for the fifth straight game with 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three blocks. After averaging 4.5 points in 10 non-conference appearances, Wheeler is averaging 12.0 points in six league games. The Stamford, Conn., native is shooting 50.0 percent (11-of-22) from the three-point range against conference foes after going just 5-for-17 from deep in non-league play. Wheeler has matched or set a career-high for scoring twice in his last five games dating back to Jan. 8.
Sophomore guard Posh Alexander also finished in double figures against the Pirates, tallying 10 points, five assists, four rebounds and a pair of steals. Alexander, the reigning BIG EAST Defensive Player and Freshman of the Year, has scored nine or more points in all 16 of his appearances with 15 double-figure performances. Last year, Alexander finished in double figures 13 times in 25 chances. Through games played on Saturday, the Brooklyn native ranks 10th in the BIG EAST in scoring (14.8 ppg), second in assists (4.9 apg) and first in steals (2.5 spg). His 2.5 thefts per outing are good for the sixth highest individual total in the nation.
For the first time since the opening game of the 2020 BIG EAST Tournament, Julian Champagnie failed to reach double figures on Saturday against Seton Hall, snapping a streak of 40-striaght performances with 10 or more points. The junior from Brooklyn still managed to make a mark in the St. John’s record book, becoming the 46th player in program history with 500 career rebounds.
Jared Rhoden, Seton Hall’s leading scorer, managed just six points on Saturday, but his teammate Myles Cale picked up the slack with 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting and nine boards. Bryce Aiken, the Pirates’ second leading scorer, missed the contest due to injury.
Four Pirates grabbed nine or more boards on Saturday, as Seton Hall (12-5, 3-4 BIG EAST) outrebounded St. John’s, 60-43. Alexis Yetna tallied 16 points and 15 boards while Tyrese Samuel finished with eight points and 10 caroms. Cale and Ike Obiagu grabbed nine boards apiece. Obiagu, the leading shot blocker in the BIG EAST, recorded seven rejections against the Red Storm.
St. John’s leads the all-time series against Seton Hall, 61-46, but is looking for its first win against the Pirates in New Jersey since Feb. 13, 2014. In that most recent Garden State victory, Chris Obekpa hit a game-sealing free throw with two seconds remaining.
Monday will mark the first of two-straight on the road for St. John’s, as the Red Storm will travel to No. 11 Villanova on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. on FOX.
