Niagara vs. St. John's: Halftime Notes

It seems like birds can't fly during stormy weather.

The St. John's Red Storm have a 35-24 advantage over the Niagara Purple Eagles at halftime. With runs of 11-3 and 10-2, coach Steve Lavin's squad have not looked like the sharpest team in the country, but they're doing the job of putting the Eagles away.

D'Angelo Harrison hit the 1,700 point mark on his career, driving to the lane for an easy layup with about three minutes remaining in the half. He leads all scorers with 13 points in addition to his six rebounds.

In a preview for tonight's game, I said that there would be plenty of blocks on behalf of the Red Storm. That's certainly the case, as already St. John's has blocked 6 shots to just about equal their season average of 6.2 per game. The Johnnie's are also outrebounding Niagara as a whole, taking a 24-20 advantage on the glass into the half.

Niagara was able to cut the lead to double digits, thanks to a 11 point half from  Emile Blackman. But St. John's has been able to keep the Purple Eagles at bay, and keep their double digit lead. Niagara has shot themselves in the foot on multiple occasions, missing a couple easy layups en route to shooting only 26 percent. They are also only 1 of 12 from beyond the arc.

St. John's turned the ball over five times in the first half, and had nine fouls. Lavin will hope his team cleans up these issues as the second half gets under way.

The second half is about to begin on Fox Sports 1. Enjoy!