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

February 15, 2007



St. John's looks to continue to solidify themselves a spot in the Big East Tournament when they welcome the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to New York City. A 6th conference win would give the Redstorm a 3-game lead over Rutgers, Seton Hall and South Florida, as well as keep them ahead of UConn (in wins) for the last spot for the BET.

Rutgers needs this game and a minor miracle to reacy Madison Square Garden for the Big East Tournament. At 3-9, with only two wins over Cincinnati and an overtime win over Seton Hall, the first year of the Fred Hill era is not looking to end very promising.

Here are the pregame stories and previews found on the internet this morning:

Webb is Savoring Final Games (Star-Ledger)
Uphill Trek to Garden Begins With Beating St. John's (Courier-News)
Rutgers-St. John's Scouting Report (Courier News)
Storm out for Revenge (NY Daily News)
Johnnies Crank up for Big Finish (NY Post)


Tonight in Carnesecca Arena, the St. John's Redstorm will look to earn their 6th conference win of the season and virtually assure themselves of a spot in the Big East Tournament, a first under Norm Roberts. In order to do so they will have to handle the Rutgers Scarlet Knights this evening.

The Redstorm are 8.5-pt favorites tonight and should have too much offensive firepower for Rutgers. With Lamont Hamilton inside and athletic forwards like Anthony Mason and Qa'arron Calhoun in the mix and a steady point guard like Eugene Lawrence, the Redstormshould be able to put points on the board at a greater pace then the offensively challenged Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers is still waiting to find some consistent offensive output. JR Inman is their leading scorer anf rebounder, but their offensive output from the rest of the squad has been pretty non existant, especially from a consistency standpoint. Marquis Webb and Jaron Griffin each have had solid games, but more than not, their shooting touch has been missing.

NBE Blogger Prediction: St. John's 67 Rutgers 58