BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: GEORGETOWN @ ST. JOHN'S

January 30, 2008

Georgetown looks to strenghten their hold of the Big East conference lead in the standings in the next few games as they face St. John's, Seton Hall and South Florida. Tonight at St. John's is the lone road game of the next three.

On the other hand the young St. John's squad is struggling under Norm Roberts. The Redstorm have lost 11 of their last 14, including last week's home disaster to Pittsburgh. In his fourth year at the helm for SJU, the lack of progress the Redstorm have made as a program under Roberts is starting to get noticed by more and more. Sure, there is eight freshman on the roster...but, by year four, the foundation should have been laid.

Weaker Foes Lie Ahead for Georgetown (Washington Times)
Down on the Farm and Up in Washington, Hoyas' Wallace Excels (NY Times)
Ewing Has Big Hand in Hoyas Success (Washington Post)

The Hoyas may be 6-1 in the Big East, but they have not exactly been cruising to victory night in and night out. The narrowly escaped with a home win over Georgetown on a last second 3-pter by Roy Hibbert, survived in OT against Syracuse as the Orange missed potential game-winners at the end of regulation and OT and on Saturday they survived Morgantown on a late three by Jesse Sapp and a last second, game-saving block by Patrick Ewing Jr. The Hoyas have been taking the opponents best shots, and although it has not always been pretty, the 6-1 record sure looks nice in this crazy conference.

Not much has been positive for St. John's, although the individual play of Anthony Mason Jr has been impressive. In losses to Pittsburgh and Louisville last week, the Redstorm managed a meager 114 points combined in the two defeats, Mason Jr scored 58 of those points. Can anyone else on this team score? Not really. St. John's strengths are in their raw athletic ability and toughness, although for a group of freshman, that is not a lot to hold their hat on in the toughest and most physical conference in the country.

In the end, this is the case of too much talent and too much experience on hand for Georgetown, who are 10-pt road favorites. The Hoyas may not look to run up and down and score a lot of points and the Redstorm will gladly play at that pace, but the Hoyas are MUCH more effecient offensively and will pull away for victory.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Georgetown 74 St. John's 58