St. John's Big East schedule revealed

Kassoum Yakwe and St. John's open Big East slate on campus against Butler, who visits Carnesecca Arena December 29. (Photo by the New York Post)

By Jason Schott (@JESchott19)

St. John’s 2016-17 schedule was finalized Tuesday afternoon, with the Big East’s unveiling of the season's conference slate putting the last pieces of the puzzle into place for the Red Storm and their second-year head coach, Chris Mullin.

The league’s broadcast schedule was also revealed, confirming that all 31 Red Storm regular season contests will be televised, with 30 delivered to a national audience. As part of the league’s landmark partnership with FOX Sports, the Red Storm will appear on the broadcast network’s signature sports station FS1 17 times.

In all, the highly competitive Red Storm slate features 15 home contests, including seven games at Madison Square Garden. St. John’s young and talented roster makes appearances at The Garden on six weekend dates this season, spending four Saturdays and two Sundays on center stage at the "World's Most Famous Arena."

St. John’s will open conference play at Carnesecca Arena, though, welcoming Butler to Queens on Thursday, December 29 at 7 p.m. before hitting the road for three of their next four. The Red Storm will open 2017 at DePaul on New Year’s Day before returning to Queens to host Creighton on January 4 at 8:30 p.m., prior to a two-game road trip to Xavier (January 7, 2:30 p.m.) and Georgetown (January 9, 6:30 p.m.).

Defending national champion Villanova will be the Red Storm’s first conference opponent at Madison Square Garden, with the Wildcats coming to town on Saturday, January 14 for a noon tipoff. Two days later, the Red Storm will meet DePaul for the second time in just over two weeks as part of FS1’s five-game Big East Marathon on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at Carnesecca Arena at 4:30 pm.

After stops at Seton Hall (January 22, noon) and Providence (January 25, 6:30 p.m.), St. John's will play three of its next four games at The Garden. Xavier comes to New York on Sunday, January 29 for a 6 p.m. soiree, followed by Marquette, who takes the Garden floor on Wednesday, February 1 in a 7 p.m. Eastern time contest. The Red Storm heads to Philadelphia for a rematch with Villanova at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday, February 4, with tip time slated for 8 p.m. A one-week hiatus precedes a local clash against reigning Big East champion Seton Hall, who comes across the Hudson River to the Garden for a noontime affair on Saturday, February 11.

St. John’s heads to Butler for a February 15 showdown at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse, with tipoff scheduled for 8:30 p.m. This is followed by a return trip to the Midwest to face Marquette six days later in an 8 p.m. tilt on February 21. The Red Storm squares off with longtime rival Georgetown at the Garden on Saturday, February 25 at noon before heading to Omaha for its final road game, which comes at 8 p.m. Eastern on February 28 against Creighton.

The Red Storm finishes out the regular season when they roll out the welcome mat for Providence at noon on Saturday, March 4 at The Garden. The battle with the Friars will be the final tuneup for both teams before the 2017 Big East Tournament, which celebrates its 35th anniversary at Madison Square Garden from March 8-11.

RELATED: St. John's releases non-conference schedule

*Information from a St. John's University press release also contributed to this story.