St. John's turns 'blackout' into blowout

By Jason Schott - Daly Dose of Hoops Contributor - @JESchott19

The St. John's Red Storm turned their "blackout" at Carnesecca Arena into a blowout of South Carolina, 89-65, on Thursday night. The Red Storm wore black uniforms, which they won in for just the second time ever, and all fans were given black t-shirts.

St. John's got off to a  nice lead in the first half by outrunning South Carolina. Point guard Phil Greene IV ran a crisp St. John's offense, and their defense was superb, notching six steals in the first half.

St. John's guard Felix Balamou (24, in center) celebrates with his teammates after a dunk in the first half. Photo by @JESchott19.

One of those steals was by Sir'Dominic Pointer with 7:36 left in the first, and he got it ahead to Chris Obepka, who got a layup to make it 24-15 St. John's.

Later on, Felix Balamou got a dunk to make it 30-15 Red Storm with 4:34 left in the first, and that brought the house down.

In the first half, St. John's was led by D'Angelo Harrison and Phil Greene IV with eight points each.

There was a scary moment with 13:34 left in the second half and St. John's ahead 51-41.

South Carolina guard Brenton Williams injured his neck after being fouled by Greene on a drive to the basket. St. John's forward/center Chris Obepka also fell to the court on the play and landed on Williams.

South Carolina players and medical staff gather around injured Brenton Williams. Photo by @JESchott19.

Obepka said of the play, "I didn't know what happened. Someone fouled him and I went to block the ball and he was there. When I tried to get up, I had pain in my arms, so I stayed down. When I went to get up I realized it was serious."

Williams' neck was placed in a brace and he was put on a backboard before being taken to the hospital for evaluation. He was moving all his extremities.

About an hour after the game, South Carolina announced that Williams was released from the hospital and is traveling home with the team.

St. John's dominated the second half, and opened up a 75-51 lead with 5:21 remaining. St. John's outscored South Carolina 51-39 in the second, on their way to the 89-65 victory.

D'Angelo Harrison led the way for St. John's with 26 points on 8-for-13 shooting with three 3-pointers and seven free throws.

This is Harrison's sixth game of 20 or more points this season. He has done it so often in his two seasons with St. John's that it has almost become routine.

Amir Garrett nearly had a perfect shooting night, as he made seven of eight baskets on his way to scoring 15 points. He had 11 rebounds, six on the offensive end, to give him a double-double.

Phil Greene IV had 13 points (5-for-8) with four assists. JaKarr Sampson chipped in 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting.

WATCH St. John's Head Coach Steve Lavin discusses the progress D'Angelo Harrison has made this season and thoughts on the game:

Battle Of The Bronx: Quotes, Takeaways & Nuggets

Manhattan coach Steve Masiello reacts favorably to one of many great plays in Jaspers' 65-58 win over Fordham.  (Photo courtesy of the author's personal collection)

Fordham head coach Tom Pecora's opening statement:

"Down the stretch, they just 'out-toughed' us.  We killed ourselves by fouling and not staying disciplined defensively."

On potential excuses to be made for Fordham's 1-5 start:

"We're not young, we're not inexperienced.  I don't want to hear that garbage.  If they (the players) accept losing, they'll accept it their entire life.  We're going to have a spirited practice tomorrow morning before we go to Harvard.  It's not going to get any easier."

On Fordham's nonconference schedule:

"You'll never see a schedule like this again, but it is what it is."

On the absence of Chris Gaston:

"I've played three guards my whole career as a coach, but they were tough.  We never had rebounding issues.  We weren't getting anything out of playing small and that hurt us.  Other guys have to step up and rebound the basketball...it can't just be (Ryan) Canty, (Travion) Leonard and (Ryan) Rhoomes."

On when to expect Gaston back:

"He's not coming back until, hopefully, the Princeton game, at the earliest."

On Ryan Canty:

"I think he played within himself...he did the things he could do.  He was a monster on the offensive glass."

On the second half:

"(Michael) Alvarado took the game over and that was the difference."

Manhattan head coach Steve Masiello's opening statement:

"It was a very good win for us.  Obviously, there's a lot of room for improvement, but I'm real happy with the 'W.'  Fordham knew our stuff pretty well."

On the Jaspers' ball handling down the stretch:

"What we spoke about was, 'Don't give them the second shot,' and we got every loose ball in the last six minutes."

On Michael Alvarado:

"He hates to lose more than I do, and sometimes I have to keep him up."

On Manhattan's defensive effort:

"We gave them 17 extra shots in the first half, and we still had a three-point lead.  What we try to do with great players like that (Branden Frazier and Bryan Smith) is make them shoot a low percentage."

Nuggets Of Note:

- Fordham's interior presence actually looks better without Chris Gaston.  After pulling down seven rebounds against Fairfield, Ryan Canty had the game of his life with a career-high 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting, carrying the Rams with Travion Leonard plagued through most of the game by foul trouble.  The Ram defense also stepped up in a big way, forcing 27 Manhattan turnovers and coming away with a plus-12 margin in that category; although most of that was forged by the 15-5 turnover disparity in the opening half, not to mention limiting George Beamon to just 10 points, well below the Jaspers' leading scorer's 24-point average.

- Branden Frazier, Bryan Smith, and Jeff Short; all of whom had been shooting the ball rather well to begin the year, shot a collective 5-for-31 from the field.  Frazier scored all of his 16 points in the second half due to picking up three fouls before the intermission, while Short was a John Starks-esque 2-for-16 and Smith missed each of the four shots he took, fouling out with just one free throw on his ledger.

- Frazier and Michael Alvarado made the most of their nights at the free throw line, knocking down 19 of the 22 combined foul shots they attempted.  Frazier had made each of his first nine before missing the front end of a 1-and-1 with 52 seconds left, ultimately sealing the win for the Jaspers along with his two turnovers in the final 2:22.

- In his first start of the season, sophomore Donovan Kates made the most of it for Manhattan, scoring 15 points and carrying the Manhattan backcourt while George Beamon was being contained by Fordham's defense in the first half.


- In time, Travion Leonard could very well be an all-Atlantic 10 player.  In the first half, he showed off his impressive rebounding prowess, getting to the offensive glass twice in the opening minutes and using his bruising physique to drive inside and grab a bucket off one of those rebounds.

Machado Scores In NBA Debut

Last night proved to be significant for Iona College on two fronts, as not only did the Gaels pick up a victory on their home court, but one of their biggest stars in recent memory made his mark at the professional level for the first of many times.

Not too long after the Gaels defeated Niagara 83-72 in their MAAC opener, reigning MAAC Player of the Year Scott Machado became just the sixth Iona player to appear in the NBA, finally making his long-awaited NBA debut for the Houston Rockets in a 120-98 road loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Coming off a flight to Minneapolis in which he and the entire Rockets team attended funeral services for the daughter of head coach Kevin McHale, Machado stepped onto an NBA court for the first time with 2:34 remaining in regulation, wearing No. 1 and replacing starting point guard Jeremy Lin.  Machado promptly proceeded to score his first NBA points one second later on a pair of free throws, and remained on the court for the duration of the game, also contributing an assist on a three-pointer by forward Marcus Morris.  When he checked in as Lin's replacement, Machado became the first Gael to see NBA action since Sean Green suited up for the Indiana Pacers in 1994.

Machado and the Rockets have both today and tomorrow off before taking the court again Saturday night, returning home to face the Utah Jazz.  A Daly Dose Of Hoops will continue to track Machado in his rookie season, so follow us for updates throughout the year.

Battle Of The Bronx Preview

With Chris Gaston injured, Branden Frazier has stepped up and become leader that Tom Pecora envisioned he would be in his junior year at Fordham.  (Photo courtesy of WFUV)

After five games on the road, the last two without their first team all-Atlantic 10 senior forward, Fordham University finally comes home Thursday night to christen Rose Hill Gym for the 2012-13 season, doing so in the 105th edition of the "Battle of the Bronx" against Steve Masiello and Manhattan, who come to the oldest venue in the nation at 1-3 on the season after a 66-58 loss to Dayton Saturday night.

In Chris Gaston's absence, Fordham has competed much better, defeating Penn for their lone victory in a 1-4 start to the year, while only falling to Fairfield by just three points after a three-point attempt by Branden Frazier that would have sent the game to overtime came up short at the buzzer.  Frazier has filled in for Gaston as the Rams' leader, scoring 41 of his 84 points in the last two contests, including a season-high 22 against Fairfield on November 20th.  Fordham also picked up career-high point totals from freshmen Jeff Short (17) and Travion Leonard (10) in the loss to the Stags, and have been paced throughout the season by the long-range efficiency of sophomore guard Bryan Smith, who has shot 48 percent from beyond the arc to begin the season.  Freshman guard Jermaine Myers has been a solid contributor all year, while reserve forward Ryan Canty comes off a seven-rebound performance against Fairfield.

It goes without saying that Rams head coach Tom Pecora will need these outings to be replicated for Thursday night's showdown with the Jaspers, who welcomed George Beamon back into the fold last Wednesday after the senior swingman had missed the first two games of the season with an ankle injury.  Manhattan comes into this matchup having won three of the last four meetings with the Rams, and are heavily favored to extend that streak to four of the last five.  The game will be televised on the YES Network at 7:30 pm, with Fordham alumnus and ESPN Radio personality Ryan Ruocco on the call; but for those of you interested in a pregame appetizer over the next 48 hours, our friend John Templon from Big Apple Buckets took some time away from his outstanding coverage of the metropolitan area to answer a few questions regarding the Jaspers and the state of mind with which they come into Rose Hill.

Jaden Daly: Now that George Beamon is back to the tune of 29 points against Hofstra and 19 against Dayton, is it safe to say that Manhattan is just now rounding into the form everyone expected from them at the start of the season?

John Templon: Yup. I think it is. George Beamon just does so much for this team. He's not just the guy who scores the most points. He also quarterbacks the pressure defenses and takes the attention away from every other Jasper on the court. He's scored in both games and Manhattan beat Hofstra for its first win and hung with a good Dayton team on the road. His healthy return means that all the pieces are in place for this team to start winning again.

JD: Emmy Andujar hasn't been able to get out of the box so far this season, but Manhattan's depth has prevented this from becoming a bigger issue. Can he get it turned around against a Fordham team that is still without Chris Gaston?

JT: Andujar had a strong second half against Dayton, scoring 10 points and knocking down some key shots, so the hope is the momentum from that game will carry over to Thursday night. He's from the Bronx and last season he was way too amped up for the game and ended up having a bunch of turnovers, so he'll need to calm his nerves a bit beforehand. Andujar has been playing a lot of "power forward" for the Jaspers and it's an odd position to put a 6'6" player into, especially one that's such a good ball-handler. It'll be interesting if the Jaspers continue to use him in that way against Fordham.

JD: Much like the Rams, Steve Masiello also has an abundance of youth in Riverdale. Which of the underclassmen looks like the most talented so far?

JT: In terms of the freshmen, the player getting the most run is point guard C.J. Jones. He's a 6'0" freshman from Chicago, who came in with a reputation of being a tough on-ball defender. Jones has a college ready body, but he's struggling a little bit with his aggressiveness and has picked up too many fouls in the early going. The other freshman getting some time is Shane Richards. He's a 6'5" forward from York Prep in the city. He's mostly shot threes and hasn't made one yet. (0-5 from the floor)

JD: Michael Alvarado has gone to his outside shot more often than not recently, and it helped win the game for Manhattan last week against Hofstra. Is Alvarado's matchup with Branden Frazier the most intriguing of the night, and if not, what is?

JT: It's worth noting that besides his outside shot, Alvarado continues to attack the basket hard and get to the free throw line. He's attempted 19 free throws and 24 shots from the field thus far this season. Alvarado against Frazier should be an intriguing match up. Frazier is arguably Fordham's best player with Gaston injured and shutting him down will probably be the key for Manhattan in this game. If Alvarado is hitting threes, like he did in a short sequence against Hofstra last week, then the Jaspers are really tough to beat because then Rhamel Brown; who has developed into an excellent forward, gets more space underneath.

JD: Manhattan defeated Fordham by 34 points in last year's Battle of the Bronx at Draddy Gym. Should we expect more of the same, or will the crowd and atmosphere at Rose Hill play more into Fordham's favor?

JT: I certainly don't think this is going to be a blowout. Going to Rose Hill is much different than playing this game in Riverdale. Fordham is going to have the opportunity to grind out a win in what should be a raucous atmosphere. I expect Manhattan to win, because with Beamon healthy teams like the Rams are teams the Jaspers should beat, no matter if it's home or away, but the Rose Hill magic gives me pause in predicting anything besides a close win.

South Carolina Scouting Report

Frank Martin makes first trip to New York as South Carolina coach this week, as Gamecocks travel to Carnesecca Arena for Thursday night meeting with St. John's.  (Photo courtesy of USA Today)

At 4-2 on the young season, St. John's has all the right pieces in place for a resurgence from last season's 13-19 record accomplished with a six-man rotation.  Led by sophomore guard D'Angelo Harrison's five 20-point games and the breakout play of fellow second-year backcourt star Phil Greene, as well as freshman forwards JaKarr Sampson and shot blocking sensation Chris Obekpa, Steve Lavin's Red Storm gets one of their bigger tests in the nonconference season this Thursday at Carnesecca Arena when South Carolina and head coach Frank Martin make the trip to Queens to square off against the Johnnies in the SEC/Big East Challenge.  St. John's will be donning their alternate black jerseys to commemorate the annual "blackout" game at their on-campus venue, and will be looking for just their second win wearing that color.  To shed further light on what the Gamecocks bring to the table, our friend Gary Moore of The College Hardwood has volunteered to provide us with a detailed scouting report of Martin's bunch just as he did two weeks ago for College of Charleston prior to the Johnnies' meeting with the Cougars in the Charleston Classic.  Gary has also enclosed three links in his preview, two of which are game recaps from his College Hardwood site, and the other a Basketball Prospectus piece on Martin's defensive prowess in his prior position as head coach at Kansas State.

***

Greetings again, this is Gary Moore from the College Hardwood with a preview of the South Carolina Gamecocks, St John's next opponent on Thursday night.  With my move down to Columbia, South Carolina, I have had a chance to see the Gamecocks in person twice this season.  Here's a scouting report of South Carolina.

Game Reviews

Frank Martin's Gamecocks are 5-1 on the season, with their only loss at home to Elon.  They have home wins over Wisconsin Milwaukee, Morgan State and Rider.  They also have neutral site wins over Missouri State and Arkansas Little Rock, winning the Hoops for Home Classic Championship in Puerto Vallarta.

I was at Colonial Life Arena for the wins over Wisconsin Milwaukee and Rider.  In the win over the Panthers, the Gamecocks rallied from a seventeen point halftime deficit to force overtime.  In overtime, guard Brenton Williams scored twelve of his fourteen points, including a perfect eight for eight from the foul line as South Carolina won 82-75.

The Gamecocks had an easier time with Rider, though they struggled with the Broncs as well. South Carolina used a 13-2 second half run to pull away for an 88-76 win.  Again, Williams was the hero with twenty two points to lead the Gamecocks.

Starting Guards

Bruce Ellington would normally be the starting point guard, but currently he is playing running back/wide receiver for the Gamecocks football team.  He won't be available until the football season ends in January.  Ellington averaged ten points and three assists as a sophomore last season.

Eric Smith handles the point guard duties while Ellington gives Steve Spurrier his all. The junior Smith, who came off the bench the past two seasons, is playing twenty eight minutes a game, averaging nearly eight points and three assists per game.

Senior LaShay Page leads the Gamecocks in scoring, averaging fifteen and a half points per game.  He is also their long range bomber, averaging thirty six percent from beyond the arc. Page was extremely effective in the two wins in Puerto Vallarta. In the wins over Missouri State and Arkansas Little Rock, he scored thirty eight total points, hitting three three pointers in each of the wins. 

Starting Forwards

Senior Lakeem Jackson is the team's horse, averaging thirty five minutes per game. Jackson scores eleven points and pulls down eight rebounds a game.  He is also shooting sixty seven percent from the field on the season (that's not a misprint).

Michael Carrera is one of Frank Martin's three foreign freshman finds.  The six foot five Venezulan is averaging twelve points and seven rebounds per game.  He is also shooting fifty seven percent from the field.  He is the South American answer to Stony Brook's Tommy Brenton. Plays taller than six foot five, really works hard and is experienced beyond his years.

Junior RJ Slawson starts, but splits time with freshman Mindaugas Kacinas (in fact Kacinas gets more of the playing time).  He is not much of an offensive threat, averaging about four points and nearly five rebounds per game. 

Bench/Reserves

This is a real strength of the Gamecocks.  They have three players who average twenty three or minutes off the bench.  Those three reserves also combine for twenty nine points and eleven rebounds per game.

Williams, the second leading scorer on the team, is also their sixth man. The junior averages thirteen and a half points per game, while shooting fifty four percent from the field, including forty four percent from beyond the arc.  He is also an eighty eight and a half percent free throw shooter.

Kacinas, another of Martin's foreign freshman finds, plays over twenty seven minutes per game. He averages eight points and six rebounds per game, while shooting fifty nine percent from the field. 

Junior Brian Richardson averages twenty five minutes, seven and a half points, three rebounds and two assists per game. He also can hit the three, shooting forty two percent from beyond the arc.

Sophomore Damien Leonard averages ten minutes and three assists per game. He can also shoot the three as he hit two three pointers in each of his games vs. Rider and Elon.

Finally, six foot eleven Laimoas Chatkevicius, the third member of the Martin Foreign Freshman Finds, has missed the first six games due to NCAA violation (impermissible benefits by his host family in the U.S). Chatkevicius will be eligible to play vs. St John's.

Strengths

As you can probably tell, this team can shoot the ball. They are thirty second in the country in field goal percentage, shooting 48.6 percent from the field.  They are also very good from the free throw line, shooting over 77 percent.  They can also shoot the three, shooting 36.4 percent.  Offensively, they are a handful.

Weaknesses

The biggest weakness though so far for South Carolina has been turnovers. They are averaging twenty one turnovers per game. As a result of their tendency to turn the ball over, I saw a significant number of fast break transition points by Rider and Wisconsin Milwaukee in their games vs. South Carolina.

Also, during his time at Kansas State, Frank Martin's teams were statistically at the top as far as defensive teams.  So far this season, Martin's teams have struggled a little bit defensively.  Three times, Gamecocks' opponents have shot over forty five percent from the field (Rider and Morgan State shot over fifty percent in their games). South Carolina did a much better job though against Missouri State and Arkansas Little Rock in the Hoops for Hope classic, holding both teams to about forty percent from the field.

If there is anyone to foul on South Carolina, it's Jackson. He shoots a horrid 35.7 percent from the charity stripe.

Coaching

Frank Martin was a very successful coach in his five years at Kansas State. He coached his teams to four NCAA Tournaments, as well as a NIT appearance. In each year his team made the NCAA Tournament, his Wildcats won at least one game in the tournament. In 2009-10, his team made the Elite Eight.

Martin is trying to change the culture at South Carolina. He demands a lot of his team.  Case in point, in his post game press conference, Martin actually apologized to the South Carolina fans for the way his team played against Morgan State. The Gamecocks beat the Bears by sixteen points that night.

If you're a fan, you absolutely love watching Martin on the sidelines. He wears his heart on his sleeve, or in his case, his hand over his face when his team is not playing well. He will give his players a burning death stare if they play carelessly. Several times, I have seen him follow a player to the bench and to be kind, give that player a teaching lesson. Outside of Bruiser Flint, there is no more fun coach to watch than Martin.

Intangibles

The game against St John's will be South Carolina's first true road game of the season. They have played four home games and two neutral site games. Chatkevicius will give them much needed size, as they don't have any other player taller than six foot eight.  How much he plays remains to be seen for the Gamecocks.

Overall

South Carolina is a strong offensive team. They shoot the ball well from the field and from the free throw line.  They have a lot of depth and Chatkevicius now being available only adds to it.  However, they are careless with the ball.  If the Red Storm can pressure the Gamecocks' guards, there should be several fast break/transition opportunities for them.  Based on South Carolina's style early in the season, I expect a high scoring game.

Machado Recalled From D-League

Shown here at July's Malone-Mulhall Benefit Game on Long Island, Scott Machado is back in NBA after being recalled from NBDL by Rockets earlier today.  (Photo courtesy of New York Post)

Every now and then, you get a second chance to make a first impression.  Scott Machado got his earlier this afternoon.

The former Iona point guard was recalled by the Houston Rockets after two games with the team's NBDL affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.  Machado was brought back up to the professional club along with forward Donatas Motiejunas after averaging 16 points per game to go with eight assists and five rebounds.

"It was great," Machado told the Houston Chronicle after being informed of the executive decision.  "Something new, something I had to get accustomed to.  I made the best of it."  The reigning MAAC Player of the Year also tweeted earlier in the day that "to do some things you've never done, you're gonna have to go some places you've never been," perhaps an allusion to the unexpected detour in his professional career. 

With Jeremy Lin and Toney Douglas ahead of him on the point guard depth chart, Machado may not get the 34 minutes per game he averaged in his brief developmental league stint, but the likelihood of him seeing the court for the first time as an NBA player has increased with his callup.  The Rockets had retained the guard on the roster to begin the season after waiving Shaun Livingston on the final day of the preseason, but head coach Kevin McHale failed to activate Machado for each of Houston's first seven games.

Machado should be available for the Rockets tomorrow night as the team hosts the Toronto Raptors in an 8pm Eastern time tipoff from the Toyota Center.  If activated, he will wear No. 1.

John Dunne Continues To Do More With Less At Saint Peter's

Now in his seventh year at Saint Peter's, John Dunne's tenure has seen highs such as 2011 NCAA Tournament, lows such as last year's 10th-place MAAC finish, and positive signs this year such as season-opening win over Rutgers.  (Photo courtesy of The Jersey Journal)

For some reason, New Jersey tends to be disregarded at times by society, primarily given its close proximity to New York and the state seemingly living in the perennial shadow of the Big Apple.  In a state with several other college basketball programs with more widespread success, it stands to reason that Saint Peter's University; just a PATH train away from lower Manhattan in Jersey City, receives the same unfair treatment.  However, those who have seen the Peacocks can vehemently disagree, and their seventh-year coach who extracts the most out of next to nothing on an annual basis is a big reason why.

Saint Peter's may be 3-2 after coming off two losses to Binghamton and Seton Hall, but John Dunne's star continues to shine in the coaching ranks based of his sheer ability to contend in the face of long odds.  Once an assistant to Louis Orr at Seton Hall, Dunne was on the staff that brought the Pirates to the NCAA Tournament in 2006, an achievement that brought him to the small MAAC institution he currently presides over.  Since replacing former coach Bob Leckie, Dunne has kept the Peacocks relevant alongside the Manhattans, Sienas and Ionas of the world; using his suffocating defense to defeat the Gaels in 2011 for his first conference championship and the school's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1995, and rebounding off a disappointing 2011-12 campaign by shocking Rutgers in Saint Peter's season opener two weeks ago in Piscataway.

When I first met Dunne and had the opportunity to speak with him, it was under some of the least desirable circumstances for a coach, as he and his Peacocks team had just been soundly defeated by Iona in a 98-61 runaway at the Hynes Center that saw the Gaels go on a 31-0 run midway through the second half to transform what had been a seven-point game and a defensive battle into an exhibition.  Needless to say, Dunne remained positive and upbeat in his postgame press conference, attributing the Peacocks' struggles to growing pains and assuring the media gathered in New Rochelle that his team would remain competitive despite their record and lack of talent compared to teams within the area and conference.

True to his word, Dunne's latest group to take the court was as relentless as ever, battling Seton Hall tooth and nail yesterday through a rock fight of a first half before ultimately being done in by the Pirates' athleticism in a 76-61 loss at the Prudential Center.  Saint Peter's got great efforts from seniors Darius Conley and Blaise Ffrench, both of whom will be greatly missed, and remained within reach for most of the second half until Fuquan Edwin helped put away Seton Hall's Garden State rivals to extend the Pirates' winning streak over Saint Peter's to seventeen.  "They were just too much for us to handle in the second half," a visibly dejected Dunne said after the game.  "Once they started feeling good, the game got away from us."

Twenty minutes do not detract from how good a coach Dunne is, however, be it on his best night or one of his lesser ones.  You simply do not get into an NCAA Tournament on luck alone, nor do you defeat a Big East team on the road for the same reason.  It takes a great talent to make those around him better, and an even greater one to breed winning and make a positive attitude contagious to those around him, and John Dunne is one of those rare individuals blessed with that unique skill set.

Saint Peter's is still searching for their identity going into the start of conference play, with nonconference home games against Fairleigh Dickinson and Boston University serving as the final precursors to the Peacocks' December 5th MAAC opener at home against Iona, and the mindset around the team remains as clear as ever: Saint Peter's may be left for dead by critics, but the product on the court remains very much alive in a wide-open MAAC where any team can literally win the conference.

"We're head and shoulders better than last year," Dunne emphatically stated yesterday in Newark.  "It's still not clear to me where our ceiling is, but I know we're going to compete every night, and we're going to be in some close ones in our league."

Very rarely do nice guys finish first, and after John Dunne did exactly that just 21 months ago when he guided Saint Peter's into the field of 68, he proved to the nation that he deserves a shot at a high major.  Whether or not that opportunity will come for the 42-year-old remains to be seen, but one thing is certain, and that is the fact that Saint Peter's will still be a tough draw for any opponent on any given night.  For a fighter of a coach who has instilled the same spirit in his players, nothing less should be expected.

Machado Scores 20 In D-League Debut

Assigned to NBDL last week, Scott Machado made the most of his debut, with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists for Rio Grande Valley Vipers last night.  (Photo courtesy of NBC Sports)

Following a longer layoff than he and his fans would have liked, the Scott Machado show resumed last night in the shadow of the border separating the United States from Mexico, a somewhat fitting backdrop for the Brazilian-American guard whose abilities are as multifaceted as his culture.

Machado, last season's Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year who was signed in September by the Houston Rockets as an undrafted free agent, made his debut Friday for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers just nine days after being assigned there by the Rockets, who have decided to use Toney Douglas as Jeremy Lin's backup at the point guard position.  The results for Machado were nothing unusual, as the former Iona star scored 20 points while adding seven rebounds and eight assists in 36 minutes as the Vipers fell to the Bakersfield Jam by the final score of 115-113.  Machado also shot 7-of-16 from the field in what was, for all intents and purposes, his first official game as a professional.

Machado got the start for the Vipers, grabbing a rebound and missing his first two shots before registering his first points on a pair of free throws with 5:48 remaining in the first quarter.  The guard picked up his first assist on the next Rio Grande possession, feeding former UConn forward Jeff Adrien for a layup inside, only to make one of his own for his first field goal just 47 seconds after converting the two foul shots.  He ended the first half with six points, and shot 6-of-9 from the field after the intermission.

Machado and the Vipers take the court for their second game of the season tonight, as they host the Jam in a rematch from the State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas.  Tipoff is slated for 8pm Eastern time, and all NBDL games can be seen free of charge on YouTube.  Check NBA.com for more information and follow A Daly Dose Of Hoops for additional updates on Machado throughout the season.

Fordham vs. Fairfield Preview

After Fordham picked up first win of season last night over Penn, Rams now shift their sights to Derek Needham and Fairfield, still a contender in MAAC despite loss of Rakim Sanders and Ryan Olander.  (Photo courtesy of Connecticut Post)

Fordham played arguably their best basketball of the season last night in their first win, a 70-68 victory over Penn in the consolation round of the Preseason NIT.  Interestingly enough, it came with senior forward Chris Gaston on the shelf after the all-Atlantic 10 big man underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Friday morning, keeping him off the court for at least the next month.  In his absence, the Rams got 19 points and seven assists from junior guard Branden Frazier, now the team leader head coach Tom Pecora expected him to be; as well as 26 points combined from Bryan Smith (14, all but two of which came from beyond the arc) and Jeff Short, (12) not to mention a solid nine points and six rebounds from freshman Travion Leonard.

Frazier's seven helpers last night give him a total of 18 for the season to go with his 15.5 points per game, while his backcourt partner Smith averages just over thirteen per contest to go with a blistering 54 percent shooting clip from three-point range.  The two are also Fordham's leading rebounders with Gaston out of the lineup, with Leonard and fellow rookie Ryan Rhoomes pulling down a combined seven boards per night.  Jeff Short, described by Pecora as the Rams' X-factor before the season, comes off the bench to average just under eight points per game while shooting 31 percent from beyond the arc.

Up next from the Stabler Center on the campus of Lehigh University just outside Allentown, Pennsylvania, Fordham takes the court again tonight against Fairfield University.  Now in his second year since arriving from Princeton, Sydney Johnson is in the midst of rebuilding the 2-2 Stags following a season in which Fairfield rode the interior dominance of seniors Rakim Sanders and Ryan Olander to the MAAC championship game and eventual appearance in the CIT.  Now a senior, all-MAAC guard Derek Needham has recovered from a foot injury that cost him the end of his junior campaign, and leads a Fairfield offense that has been challenged in their first four games to say the least.

The Stags come into tonight's matchup averaging just 60 points per game, and their 67-point output in a losing effort to Lehigh last night is their season high.  With an average of just under thirteen points per game, Needham is Fairfield's leading scorer and leading shot taker, not afraid to chuck the ball up as evidenced by his 52 field goal attempts, 32 of which have come from long range as he has moved off the ball while fellow senior Desmond Wade runs the point with just under seven assists and four rebounds per contest and a 1.59:1 assist to turnover ratio.

In Sanders' absence, junior swingman Keith Matthews, who had his first breakout game against Iona in the MAAC Tournament semifinals last March, has picked up the slack up front with his averages of eleven points and six rebounds per contest.  It is the giant alongside Matthews inside the paint that poses the biggest problem for Fordham, that being seven-foot Croatian freshman Josip Mikulic, who has scored a total of 34 points in his first four games while shooting 54 percent from the field.  The Rams have no true answer for Mikulic's size, which means that Pecora would be much better served giving Ryan Rhoomes or Ryan Canty a start up front rather than giving the nod to Khalid Robinson as he did last night in a four-guard starting lineup against Jerome Allen and the Quakers.

Both benches are about the same, as Fairfield has played an eight-man rotation for the most part, with freshman guard Justin Jenkins being the ninth man with a total of 20 minutes of playing time through the Stags' initial four contests.  Both schools also have similar rebounding and defensive stats, which mean that tonight's contest can come down to two things on paper: Free throws (Fairfield comes in shooting 74 percent at the foul line to just 68 for Fordham) and ball control, as the Rams have a minus-19 turnover margin compared to the plus-3 of the Stags and plus-19 Fordham has yielded to its first four opponents, who average 79 points per game.  Much to Fordham's credit, though, their defense has become considerably better each time out, improving from the 86 points given up to both Texas State and Pittsburgh to just 74 against Robert Morris and 68 last night against Penn.

Tonight's meeting with Fairfield will be the first of two consecutive games against MAAC opponents, as the Rams will host Manhattan in their home opener one week from Thursday.  Fordham will have one more date with a MAAC foe later on this season, when Siena returns the favor from the Rams' road win last season by coming to Rose Hill on December 23rd.

Maryland Leaves ACC For Big Ten

With Maryland's decision to leave ACC for Big Ten, memories like this one of Greivis Vasquez celebrating Terps' 2010 win over Duke on senior night at Comcast Center, (Photo courtesy of the Associated Press) or his triple-double against North Carolina (photo courtesy of the University of Maryland) will never have the same significance again.  

As a fan of the University of North Carolina, it is only natural that some of my greatest basketball memories involve one of the Tar Heels' biggest rivals, one whom I always respected because the same intensity and determination I would see when this team played the likes of Dean Smith, Bill Guthridge and Roy Williams would be on the same full display against UNC's perennial adversary Duke.  That is how I came to appreciate the University of Maryland, a program that managed to remain nationally relevant despite living in the shadow of two bigger giants within their own conference.  Sadly, the Maryland I came to know and respect as a fan has changed drastically over the last two years, first with the retirement of longtime head coach and college basketball legend Gary Williams in May of 2011 before the latest life-changing announcement this afternoon out of College Park.

As reported by ESPN's Brett McMurphy, Maryland will leave the Atlantic Coast Conference; a league in which the Terrapins were a charter member back in 1953, in favor of the Big Ten, with an official announcement to be made at a 3pm press conference.  Maryland will not be coming alone, as it was revealed that Rutgers will be leaving the Big East to join the Big Ten, something this site will profile in greater detail after their announcement is made official.  Both schools are expected to move into their new home for the 2014-15 season.  Maryland's exodus is the latest domino to fall in a conference realignment saga that the ACC has been at the center of, first prying Syracuse and Pittsburgh away from the Big East before doing the same to Notre Dame two months before losing the Terps today.

Once again, football looks to be the biggest reason on paper for the change in affiliations, as Maryland's football program would have a stronger base of competition in the Big Ten than it would in the ACC, which for all intents and purposes is not regarded as a football hotbed after Florida State and maybe Virginia Tech.  On the contrary, while the Terps' basketball programs; both of whom have won national championships in the past decade, escape from the specter of having to perennially look up at North Carolina and Duke, the memories that each leaves behind are enough to outweigh any perceived benefits the Big Ten can possibly offer.

Starting in 2001, when Williams and the Terps knocked off Stanford behind 24 points from Lonny Baxter to reach the school's first-ever Final Four, it was a sign that you didn't have to be the Tar Heels or the Blue Devils to succeed in the ACC and make a name for yourself.  Maryland proved that a year later in the Georgia Dome when Williams cut down the net in Atlanta following an emphatic 64-53 victory over Indiana.  Two years later, one of the greatest Maryland runs in my lifetime occurred when a Terps team that looked headed for the NIT rattled off three straight wins in the ACC Tournament to win the conference title, capped off by a thrilling overtime win over Duke.  A 2006 national championship for the women's team after they defeated my alma mater St. John's along the way was the next crown jewel for Maryland basketball, with one of the greatest games of all time taking place nearly three years later in the Comcast Center: The 35-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist performance of Greivis Vasquez, only the third triple-double in Maryland history, en route to an 88-85 overtime upset of eventual national champion North Carolina.

Maryland celebrates 2004 ACC championship, completing Cinderella run to get into NCAA Tournament, where a two-point loss to Syracuse kept Gary Williams' Terps out of Sweet Sixteen.  (Photo courtesy of the University of Maryland)

Yet today, these great Maryland moments are just mere footnotes in the history of a great basketball program that now has to start over in a new conference thanks to forces of another sport driving the engine.  The Terps will almost certainly compete alongside schools like Michigan State, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio State, but it will just not be the same.  Sometimes change is good, but when it sacrifices great basketball memories in a conference that has traditionally been one of the best in college basketball, it should not have to happen.  However, it is just yet another cruel example of the world we live in; where just as children mature over time and become adults, society as well becomes bigger and more demanding, and college athletic departments seek to become bigger and more efficiently operating businesses just as your local convenience store or restaurant may.  As a North Carolina fan, I will eventually come to grips with not seeing Maryland on the schedule, but quite honestly, there will be an empty feeling initially when all the memories built up over my 26 years get put to rest with a rivalry that should never have died in the first place.  As the media member I currently am, all I can do is write about what was and what will be; and hope that maybe, just maybe, this could be a realignment aftereffect with a positive result.

Chris Gaston To Undergo Knee Surgery

Already mired in 0-3 start, Fordham faces another blow with all-Atlantic 10 forward Chris Gaston now on shelf due to arthroscopic knee surgery.  (Photo courtesy of the YES Network)

Just when  you thought it couldn't get any worse around Rose Hill following Fordham's 0-3 start, the Rams have yet another mountain to climb this morning upon hearing that senior forward Chris Gaston; the first team all-Atlantic 10 double-double machine that has been among the few bright spots for head coach Tom Pecora since arriving from Hofstra, will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery later today that will keep him off the court for approximately the next month.

Fordham is already dealing with a thin bench in the absence of point guard Devon (Fatty) McMillan, who has yet to return following an offseason shoulder injury, and freshman Ryan Rhoomes has been battling a sprained ankle just days after receiving word that he had been cleared by the NCAA to compete.  Gaston's injury will almost certainly shift the onus onto freshman Travion Leonard to become more of a contributor up front, while swingman Luka Zivkovic will likely be pushed into greater action as well.  There is also an option for Pecora to play smaller with four guards by inserting Jeff Short into the starting five alongside his backcourt trio of junior Branden Frazier, sophomore Bryan Smith and freshman Jermaine Myers, who is currently seeing starter's minutes in McMillan's absence.

Gaston reportedly experienced swelling in his knee during the three-game road trip to open the Rams' season, first at Texas State and then in Pittsburgh this week for Preseason NIT meetings with Pittsburgh and Robert Morris.  Fordham continues on in the consolation round of the tournament next week, traveling to Lehigh University to face Penn on Monday night before squaring off against Fairfield on Tuesday in what will be the final game before the Rams' home opener one week from Thursday against Manhattan in the annual "Battle of the Bronx."

One of three players to average ten or more points per game in the young season, Gaston leaves the lineup with averages of 11.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, with five blocked shots and four steals over the first three contests of the year.  The New Jersey native had been playing an average of 33 minutes per night.

New Uniform, Same Results For Smyth

Formerly one of Iona's most feared shooters, Kyle Smyth is striking similar feelings in opponents for Seton Hall.  (Photo courtesy of Newark Star-Ledger)

Last year, he was the third guard behind Scott Machado and Momo Jones at Iona, a dangerous shooter who would make you pay if you left him open.  His proficiency from beyond the arc was such that he was an integral part of the Gaels' NCAA Tournament run.  Having redshirted in his freshman season, the New Jersey native was able to graduate and play somewhere else immediately with one year of eligibility left over.  This past summer, he reunited with his former coach, and is already paying dividends.

When Kyle Smyth transferred to Seton Hall from Iona, the move was criticized in part because the Pirates welcomed another shooter to a team desperate for a point guard in the wake of Jordan Theodore's graduation and Texas transfer Sterling Gibbs' denial by the NCAA of a hardship waiver that would have enabled him to play this season.  Smyth was familiar with Pirates coach Kevin Willard, who coached him at Iona in his redshirt year and as a freshman the following season, and the already established relationship was definitely a factor in the decision to come to South Orange over a number of other suitors interested in his services.

"Any time you have familiarity with a system, or anything, I think that can make it (the transition) a little smoother," Smyth said when I caught up with him following Seton Hall's 78-65 victory over Norfolk State Monday night, one in which the senior scored 14 points off the bench on four three-pointers and a pair of free throws.  "They (my teammates) make me look a lot better, so I have to give them all the credit."

Having covered Smyth last season during Iona's magical journey into the field of 68, I told several Seton Hall fans that they would love him instantly, feelings that have since been validated by the Pirate brethren.  His performance three nights ago was a vintage Smyth outing for those who had seen his past work in New Rochelle, a quick and painless sniping from long range that was one of the biggest reasons why Seton Hall went into halftime with the lead against a Norfolk State team that outplayed the Pirates in the opening minutes, looking more like the team that upset Missouri in last year's NCAA Tournament than a MEAC squad normally does against an opponent from the Big East.  Within seconds, Smyth had six of his fourteen points to extend Seton Hall's advantage and put the visiting Spartans on the ropes.

"Not only does he shoot the basketball, but he does so many little things right on the court," said Willard, now in his third year at the helm of the Pirates since replacing Bobby Gonzalez following a 2009-10 season in which Seton Hall won nineteen games and appeared in the NIT for the school's first postseason berth since 2006.  "He's a kid that every coach would want to have on his team.  He's the ultimate teammate, and that's why I love him."

Willard's description could not be any further from the truth, as his new shooting guard was a truly unselfish teammate Monday night.  Smyth may have been the third-leading scorer in Seton Hall's victory, but he has no problem being overshadowed by the double-doubles posted by star swingman Fuquan Edwin and bruising power forward Eugene Teague.  "This isn't my team," Smyth said after the game.  "My job as a leader is more so on the court, making sure guys are always on their toes."

Smyth's role as a leader also includes his past experience, for better or worse; which has a glittering headline that no one else on the Seton Hall roster can possess, that being the aforementioned NCAA Tournament appearance for Iona last season.  Yes, the one in which the Gaels led Brigham Young 49-24 at one point in the first half before watching their lead and dreams of a win on college basketball's greatest stage fall apart in the closing minutes as the Cougars pulled away at the end for a 78-72 comeback victory.  When I asked one of the newest Pirates about that, he was enthusiastic about sharing the experience, and optimistic about the future.

"Explaining to them what it was like makes them hungrier," he said when recounting the first time he told his teammates of the fairy tale that emanated from Westchester County eight months ago.  "My goal is to get back there."

Seton Hall faces long odds to even be a bubble team based on their preseason predictions, but one thing has almost always been constant in recent years.  The Pirates have usually defied their critics and finished higher than their prognostications every season, and if Kyle Smyth keeps torching the nets the way he has over the last several years, Seton Hall could be this year's St. John's or USF, the guy no one expected to show up to the dance.  Maybe they'll even leave better off than they were coming in.

College Of Charleston Scouting Report

The TD Arena in Charleston is the site of St. John's next three games, starting first with host College Of Charleston Thursday night in the Charleston Classic.  (Photo courtesy of Gary Moore via The College Hardwood)

Following St. John's thrilling come-from-behind win over Detroit in yesterday's season opener, the Red Storm take an immediate step up in competition, participating in the Charleston Classic for three games this weekend, the first coming tomorrow against College Of Charleston and new coach Doug Wojcik.  In an unexpected turn of events, we received an offer over the weekend from Daly Dose friend and colleague Gary Moore to provide a scouting report of the Cougars for the Red Storm contingent who reads our content, and we instantly took him up on his intentions.  A former Hofstra writer whose vocation has relocated him to South Carolina, the Long Island-bred Moore offers his own unique content and interesting spin on the college basketball world through his own website, The College Hardwood, which can be accessed by clicking on the link.  Without any further ado...

Scouting Report of College of Charleston

Greetings, everyone.  I am Gary Moore from the College Hardwood.  Last Friday night I was in Charleston to watch the College of Charleston defeat Towson in the first game for both teams.  Here is a scouting report on the Cougars, the Red Storm's next opponent.

Review of the Game - 

College of Charleston came out strong against Towson.  The Cougars' defense forced numerous turnovers on the Tigers and scored eighteen first half points off those turnovers.  Charleston held Towson to six of twenty six shooting in the first half and took a 40-14 halftime lead.

The second half saw Charleston extend their lead to thirty three points 49-16 with sixteen minutes left.  The Cougars' second half lead was still twenty five points with five minutes left before Charleston Head Coach Doug Wojcik emptied his bench.  Charleston cruised to a 75-58 win over Towson.  

Charleston shot fifty six percent from the field.  Four of their five starters scored in double figures.  The fifth starter, Adjehl Baru, just missed a double double with nine points and nine rebounds.

You can find a more detailed recap of the game at my site here

Starting Guards -

Charleston has two very solid guards in senior Andrew Lawrence and sophomore Anthony Stitt.  Lawrence, the second leading scorer from last season, is very steady.  He scored sixteen points, added seven rebounds and had five assists vs. Towson.  Lawrence is also very efficient on offense.  He only attempted only six shots and hit four of those.  Lawrence also was a perfect 6 of 6 from the line. 

Stitt had a very solid game against Towson.  The sophomore had twelve points on three of four shooting from beyond the arc and added three assists with no turnovers.  Stitt scored a career high twenty three points as a freshman last season against eventual NIT Runner-Up Massachusetts.

Starting Forwards -

Charleston has a very good trio of forwards in Baru, Trent Wiedeman and Anthony Thomas.  That trio combined for thirty eight points and twenty one rebounds in the win over Towson.  The trio was mostly responsible for the thirty four points the Cougars scored in the paint against the Tigers.

What impressed me most about this trio is how hard they work. Wiedeman is their go to guy as he had seventeen points on eight of thirteen shooting.  Thomas is a very athletic 6-7 forward.  But Baru impressed me the most.  He is maximum effort all the time.  An example of this was early in the second half.  Baru fought to keep a loose ball in the possession of the Cougars.  It resulted in Stitt burying a three to put Charleston up thirty three points.

Bench

The Cougars' go nine deep.  Matt Sundberg and Nori Johnson are two returning bench players who saw significant minutes last season.  They are joined this season by freshman Theo Johnson and JUCO Willis Hall.  Hall saw seventeen minutes of action and scored five points in the win over Towson.  Theo Johnson saw twelve minutes of action and had two blocks.  Nori Johnson played fourteen minutes and had one assist.   Sundberg, who nearly averaged twenty two minutes per game last season, only played two minutes against Towson, due to what seemed to be matchup issues (based on Wojcik's comments after the game).

Coaching

Wojcik is a very experienced and successful head coach, having won 140 games in seven seasons at Tulsa. Prior to that, Wojcik was the Associate Head Coach at Michigan State under Tom Izzo.   Wojcik was also the point guard for the very successful David Robinson led Navy teams in the mid eighties.  The man knows his basketball.

Wojcik's team is maximum effort on defense.  The Cougars' play the passing lanes aggressively, with a lot of active hands forcing many deflected passes.   In the second half, Towson made a slight run, cutting a thirty three point lead down to twenty six with about fourteen minutes left to play.  Wojick immediately called timeout, unhappy with his team's defensive play.  Towson never really got closer than twenty five points until there was five minutes left in the game.  

On offense, Wojicik's Cougars are incredibly efficient and pass the ball extremely well, looking to score the ball inside. Charleston only attempted nine three pointers and hit four of those.  As noted, they scored thirty four points in the paint and they had twenty nine free throw attempts. 

Weaknesses

If Charleston showed one weakness, it was on the offensive glass.  Towson had seventeen offensive rebounds, eight of which came from Providence transfer Bilal Dixon.  Much to his credit, Wiedeman immediately noted that in the first few seconds of the post game conference and said they had to be much better on the defensive glass against St John's.    Charleston also was only seventeen of twenty nine from the free throw line.  Many of those misses came in the second half as the Cougars were eight of ten from the charity stripe in the first half.

Intangibles

This is an experienced team, with four of the five starters and six of the top seven players in minutes returning from last season.  This team won nineteen games last season, including nine non conference games.

The Cougars' home, TD arena is a 5,100 seat venue.  It was eighty percent full this pastFriday night and the student sections were well filled.  In his post game press conference, Wojcik was very impressed on how the fan noise and the sound system filled the arena. I was at the TD arena for the inaugural Charleston Classic four years ago.  Charleston played Southern Illinois Edwardsville and the filled student section made a huge difference.  TD Arena can be quite loud.

Overall

I came away very impressed by the College of Charleston.  They are efficient, give maximum effort on defense and they seem to be buying into Wojcik's style of play.  As they did against the Tigers, the Cougars will likely try to jump out early on the Red Storm and get the likely capacity crowd into the game.  St John's best hope is to be smart with the ball on the offensive end, limit the turnovers and try to gain an advantage on the offensive glass.  

They better bring their best effort.  With a home capacity crowd, a national TV audience with the game on ESPNU and an experienced Cougars' team, the Red Storm have a tough task ahead of them.  It will be a good game.

St. John's 77, Detroit 74

Steve Lavin gets win in long-awaited return to bench as St. John's overcomes 10-point deficit to defeat Detroit 77-74 in season opener.  (Photo courtesy of Newark Star-Ledger)

Going into today's game, the concerns surrounding St. John's and their roster seemed to distract the Red Storm from their season opener against reigning Horizon League champion Detroit.  The latest of which, one that emanated late last night when it was announced that star guard D'Angelo Harrison would not start the game for disciplinary reasons, also proved to be just another hurdle that the Red Storm (1-0) cleared in typical fashion, overcoming a 10-point deficit with their stifling matchup zone to defeat Detroit (1-1) by the final of 77-74 inside Carnesecca Arena.

"We know how to fight," said Harrison, who scored fifteen of his 22 points in the second half.  "My job is to play basketball here.  It doesn't matter who starts or doesn't start."  Phil Greene also chipped in with 20 points of his own, while Amir Garrett added a quiet double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.  Chris Obekpa, a 6-8 freshman who was one of the more highly touted prospects in the St. John's recruiting class, stole the show off the bench; setting a school record with eight blocked shots, while also contributing seven points and eleven rebounds.  Said Obekpa of his dominating performance: "It was fun, so I kept on doing it."

In his first game back as coach of the Red Storm, Steve Lavin was proud of the effort.  "I thought the players showed a collective, resilient spirit," Lavin said.  "We knew we were going to get a great test today, and we ultimately found a way to get a win.  This was similar to what teams in the postseason face in the first round."

Lavin went to his matchup zone defense with just over nine minutes left when the Red Storm trailed the Titans 60-53.  From there, Detroit missed six consecutive shots while the Johnnies used seven unanswered points from Harrison and Garrett to tie the game before Ray McCallum (21 points) gave Detroit what would be their final lead, putting the Titans ahead 62-60.  Following a basket by Harrison, Sir'Dominic Pointer's layup with 4:50 remaining moved St. John's into the lead for good.  Detroit had a chance to send the game into overtime following a Red Storm turnover, but the Titans missed a desperation three-point attempt from the left wing to secure the final margin of victory for the Johnnies.

St. John's heads to the Charleston Classic from here, taking on College of Charleston in the opening round Thursday night before facing either Murray State or Auburn.