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

December 31, 2008


The Keno Davis era enters the Big East schedule in his debut season as the Providence Friar basketball coach on New Year's eve when PC hosts St. John's at the Dunkin Donuts Center in downtown Providence.

While neither team is looking like they are completely out of the running to appear in your March Madness betting pools when the NCAA Tournament roles around, both have not quite doomed their season yet.

Here are the articles on the web previewing the contest:

As Big East Season Opens, Question is, Is PC Ready (Providence Journal)
St. John's at PC Match-ups (Providence Journal)

While St. John's sits at 9-3 on the season, the pre-conference period has not been a real healthy one for Norm Roberts' club. They lost their best player, Anthony Mason Jr., for the season to a knee injury. They have yet to beat anyone of significance, losing to three ACC squads (Va Tech, Miami and BC), two of which were in the Garden, and will play the Big East opener without their starting point guard, Malik Boothe, because of injury and still have Justin Burrell rounding into form after breaking facial bones earlier this month.

Providence enters the game with an 8-4 mark, with losses to Northeastern in Davis' debut, Baylor, St. Mary's (CA) and at Boston College as well. PC has a win over Rhode Island to their credit and has shown, at times, to be capable of scoring some points.

With the injury concerns of SJU, especially playing without their point guard in this one, I like the Friars to get a home win as Keno Davis collects his first Big East win.

Prediction:

Providence 73
St. John's 63