Time to get giddy? Maybe.
Riding a three-game Big East winning streak, St. John’s has a chance to become the first conference team to win three straight on the road when it plays at Cincinnati tonight.
Notre Dame also has a chance to win three straight on the road when it plays at Connecticut. And Syracuse can join the club by winning at South Florida.
What makes the Red Storm’s position so shocking is that just a week ago it was on a six-game league skid that dropped them into the Big East basement.
At 4-7 in the league, St. John’s (10-12) has a chance to wake up tomorrow with a legitimate shot to make the Big East tournament in March. Seton Hall (5-7), DePaul (5-7) and Providence (4-8) lost their games last night. A St. John’s win tonight would create a logjam of teams with five league wins. And St. John’s hosts Villanova on Saturday night in the Garden.
“I just want to win a game,” said St. John’s coach Norm Roberts. “Winning three on the road would be awesome because I would say it proves how much our young kids have improved and matured. But we don’t have the luxury of thinking about streaks or what games are down the road. The only game we can think about is Cincinnati.”
St. John’s beat Cincy, 70-58, in its league home opener but the Bearcats, behind sophomore Deonta Vaughn, have been tough at home (3-2), including a one-point loss to UConn.
St. John’s, which is expected to be without junior Anthony Mason Jr., (ankle) for a third straight game, posted road wins at South Florida and Rutgers, marking the first back-to-back league road wins since 2002-03. The last time St. John’s strung together three consecutive conference road wins was during the 1998-99 season, when the Red Storm topped Pitt, 88-60, West Virginia, 80-68 and Georgetown, 74-66.
ST. JOHN’S at CINCINNATI Tonight: 7:00
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