GAME NOTES: Big East conference play begins Tuesday with the surprising Providence Friars traveling to Carnesecca Arena to take on the St. John's Red Storm.
After suffering a three-game skid dating back to the end of November, the Red Storm are coming into this game winning their last two, most recently a 66-61 victory over Texas-Pan American. St. John's has won only three of its last 11 league openers with last year's 81-71 decision at West Virginia being its most recent. Following this game, the Red Storm will head on the road to face defending national champion Connecticut on New Year's Eve.
The Providence Friars have come out of the gate strong to open the season with a record of 11-2, including wins in eight of their last 10 games. This opener marks the 10th time in the last 12 seasons the Friars have opened conference play on the road. The Friars will stay on the road for a New Year's Eve matchup with Georgetown before returning home to face top-ranked Syracuse on January 4th.
St. John's holds a 56-42 series record in the series between these two Big East foes, including a 67-65 win last season in Providence.
Under second-year coach Steve Lavin the Red Storm have relied heavily on contributions from a number of freshman, including four starters. The young Red Storm are scoring 66.7 points per game while keeping other teams to 65.2. St. John's offense is driven by two of these freshman in guard D'Angeloa Harrison and forward Maurice Harkless. Harkless and Harrison are both averaging 14.2 points per game. Harkless is also anchoring the team's rebounding output at 8.1 per game.The lone upper classmen to start for St. John's is God'sgift Achiuwa, a 6-8 junior forward. Achiuwa has led the team in field goal percentage this season (.568) and is averaging 12.3 points along with 7.4 rebounds per game.
Providence relies heavily on the play of its talented backcourt, especially junior guard Vincent Council. Council is averaging a team high 16.9 points as well as 6.9 assists per game, which is good for second in the Big East. Council had 15 points and six assists in the Friars' most recent win, a 80-61 triumph against instate rival Rhode Island, which puts him only 24 points away from 1,000 for his career. Accompanying Council in the Friars' backcourt are sophomores Gerard Coleman and Bryce Cotton. Cotton leads the Big East in free throw percentage shooting at a .909 clip, while also averaging 15.7 points per game. Coleman is second on the team in scoring at 15.8 points per game. The Friars' strength in the backcourt has not meant a weakness up front. In their win against Rhode Island, they grabbed 50 rebounds as a team -- the first time they have done that since December 8, 2010 in a 88-86 loss at Boston College. Freshman forward LaDonate Henton has been Providence's power on the boards, pulling down 8.8 rebounds per game.
St. John's is looking to rebound from a tough opening to the season, while Providence will be trying to prove its strong start is no fluke. St. John's is still a little young and will struggle contending with the Friars' dynamic backcourt, despite the homecourt advantage.
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