Familiar stakes surround Georgetown’s clash with longtime Big East foe St. John’s on Wednesday night at Washington, D.C.
For the Hoyas (7-21, 2-15 Big East), the showdown brings a chance to win consecutive league games for the first time since March 2021. Meanwhile, the Red Storm (16-12, 6-11) aim to use their date with the league’s worst team to recover from a loss against Creighton.
The same applied in the teams’ initial matchup on Jan. 29 at Madison Square Garden. Georgetown was fresh off its first league win in 29 games while St. John’s limped in following a 104-76 drubbing at the hands of the Bluejays.
The Red Storm ultimately eked out a 75-73 win over the Hoyas, keyed by AJ Storr’s game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds.
Georgetown lost its next five games until it upset Butler 68-62 at Indianapolis on Sunday to snap a 22-game road losing streak that dated back to Feb. 27, 2021.
The Hoyas fed on 17 points from Brandon Murray and a 45-29 rebounding advantage to win Sunday after trailing by as many as 13 in the first half.
“For the most part we fought. We made mistakes in the first half, I got on them at halftime (and) they stayed focused,” Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing said. “Everyone did some positive things to be able to come away with a win.”
The Red Storm tightened up defensively in Saturday’s rematch against No. 18 Creighton, even holding the Bluejays scoreless over a six-minute period in the second half to take a one-point lead at 49-48 with under 12 minutes to play.
However, an 11-0 Creighton run down the stretch ultimately proved too much for coach Mike Anderson’s unit to overcome in a 77-67 defeat at New York.
“I think we got away from the things we did to get ourselves back in it,” Anderson said. “We tried to make the home-run play when all we probably needed to do was make three or four more passes. I thought we had Creighton on their heels, and we didn’t take advantage of it.”
Joel Soriano led St. John’s with 15 points, while David Jones added 14 off the bench in the loss.
The Red Storm have won the last four meetings against the Hoyas and lead 64-57 in a series that dates to 1909.
–Field Level Media
