Georgetown heads to Madison Square Garden for showdown with St. John’s

How to Watch, Listen, and Stream

Time: Noon ET

Watch: FOX

Stream: FOX Sports Go

Listen: WOL 1450 AM (Georgetown), 570 AM WMCA (St. John’s)

Odds: St. John’s is favored over Georgetown by 9.5 points

Last Game: In their first game down in Washington DC, St. John’s defeated Georgetown in overtime by a score of 97-94

Earlier this month when St. John’s made the trip down to Washington D.C. for their first game against Georgetown in conference play, we were treated to an absolute thriller of a game between the two with the Red Storm edging the Hoyas in overtime by a score of 97 to 94.

The game was marked by the heroics of Shamorie Ponds with his 37 point game and the dual double-doubles from the Hoyas pair of Jesse Govan and Josh LeBlanc. It was also St. John’s first win at Georgetown since 2003 and at that point in this season looked as if the Red Storm would keep up their high flying ways.

Now things shift to Madison Square Garden for the second and potentially final game this season between the Hoyas and the Red Storm. St. John’s has a chance at a sweep and the best that Georgetown can do is a reverse split of taking the road game.

Since their win over Georgetown, St. John’s has gone 1-3 with the win coming against Creighton and the losses coming against Villanova, DePaul, and Butler. Over this stretch, the Red Storm have averaged 73.5 points per game and opponents against St. John’s have averaged 75.3 points per game leaving a point difference of -1.8 and the Johnnies often on the short end often at the short end of the stick.

It might be a case of things having finally catching up to St. John’s in terms of their season so fa, or they are missing that extra piece to make up for what is missing. Still though, January has not exactly been kind to the Red Storm who at this point are sitting on a .500 record of 3-3 for the month with tomorrow’s game against Georgetown and then a road game against Creighton to close out the month. Maybe this trend will be broken or is a sign of things to come. On a final note before we get to Georgetown, St. John’s has had a rotating cast in terms of leading scorer on this stretch of games with Shamorie Ponds, LJ Figueroa, and Mustapha Heron. So on a positive note, there is still an array of scoring options at their disposal.

Since their loss to St. John’s, Georgetown has also gone 1-3, with the only win coming against Providence in double overtime and the three losses coming against Xavier, Marquette, and Creighton. Over this stretch, Georgetown has averaged 82.3 points per game while opponents have averaged 84.0 points per game and the point differential is -1.7 against the Hoyas.

In Georgetown’s case, they also might be suffering from a missing piece to help them close out games. Over this stretch, Jessie Govan has been the best player for the Hoyas. Govan has led the Hoyas in scoring thrice, four times the leader in rebounds, and two double-doubles. The two double-doubles came in the double overtime win against Providence when he had 33 points and 14 rebounds and against Creighton when he had 22 points and 12 rebounds.

If Govan continues to do the things that he has been doing this month, then the Hoyas have a legitimate shot in this game as that opens up options in James Akinjo and Mac McClung to play their part. On the St. John’s side of things, it is vital to break out of their funk and use their array of options to their full potential. This team should be the favorite for this game and once again find itself with players have double-digit point totals it is just now to make it more consistent.