St. Johns Red Storm coach Steve Lavin will bring his men's basketball team to Madison Square Garden in New York Thursday (7 PM Eastern, ESPN) to play the 10th ranked University of Connecticut Huskies as part of ESPN's Rivalry Week. The Red Storm (13-9, 5-5 BIG EAST) are currently on the outside looking in of the NCAA Tournament bubble while the Huskies (18-4, 6-4) are a virtual lock for a tournament bid, and with some help, are still in the hunt for a piece of the BIG EAST title. Odds makers at most offshore sports shops list the Red Storm as +1 1/2-point spreads home underdogs with a posted total of 132 1/2.
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In the two school's previous meeting, St.John's ended a nine-game losing streak to UConn, in the opening round of the 2010 BIG EAST Tournament. Defeating St. John's at the Garden is not an easy order for the Huskies, as No. 1 ranked Duke found out on Jan. 30, falling to the Red Storm 72-71.
UConn is averaging 74.2 points per game and holding opponents to 64.7 points. The Huskies are shooting 42.8 percent from the field and 74.8 percent from the free throw line. Defense has been key for Connecticut as it has held opponents to the 12th-lowest field goal percentage (38.8 percent) in the country and outrebounded opponents by an average of 5.1 boards per game. UConn's 6.5 blocks per game ranks sixth nationally. Bronx native Kemba Walker is the team leader on the court. Walker has the nation's sixth-best scoring mark at 23.2 points per game and has topped 20-point mark 15 times this season. All four of UConn's losses this season have been to BIG EAST opponents.
For UConn to pull of a win tonight they will need to contain St. John's swingman D.J. Kennedy who has paced the Red Storm with a 15.1 scoring average, and leads in rebounds, assists, steals and free throw percentage.
