The city’s college hoops youth movement will be on full display tonight at Madison Square Garden.
When St. John’s (6-3) takes the floor against Fordham (1-7) there will be a combined 23 underclassmen on the rosters, with many of them playing in the Garden for the first time in their careers.
“You have to take that energy [of playing at MSG] and channel it,” St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin said. “On the defensive end of the floor, have active feet and active hands, talk on defense and do the things that allow you to be fully engaged in the moment. That helps sometimes with the nerves that come with playing in a big-time atmosphere like MSG.”
The Red Storm, who split their home games between the Garden and Carnesecca Arena, are so young they are even leaning on their sophomores, such as Sir’Dominic Pointer, to let the freshman know what it will be like playing against the Rams.
“We told them that it’s a different vibe,” Pointer said. “We told them that walking in you’re going to get hyped.”
Much like Lavin, who has ten underclassmen on his roster, Fordham’s head coach Tom Pecora is getting his team, which is even younger with 13 underclassmen, ready to play on a bigger stage.
“We say ‘Hey, we’re playing in the Garden, that always makes it special,’” Pecora said. “[Ryan] Rhoomes, [Branden] Frazier and [Bryan] Smith, three of our five starters, will be local guys. It’s huge for them playing in the Garden.”
Fordham comes into the intra-city contest having played one home game this season and will not return to Rose Hill until Dec. 23. So, this is the closest they will play to home even though this is technically a road game.
“It is their home court,” Pecora said. “When you see who has the best seats in the house, there will be a lot more red shirts near the court than maroon ones. That being said, I think we’re going to have a great turnout.”
During tonight’s game, the primary spotlight will be on the guard play for both teams. For St. John’s, it will be leading scorer D’Angelo Harrison and for Fordham it will be the guard-heavy rotation that Pecora, who has started three guards for his entire career, implements.
Both coaches have spent the days leading up to the showdown planning for one another.
“There are things we can pull out of the USF game that I think can help us…in preparation for Fordham,” Lavin said about his team’s 81-65 loss to San Francisco.
“Containing dribble penetration and staying attached to shooters are two areas within our zone and man defense that we’ll have to continue to improve upon.”
Pecora will throw a combination of guards, including Devon McMillan, who is playing in his third game since returning from a shoulder injury, to contain Harrison.
“He is their primary offensive option in everything that they do,” Pecora said. “Like we do against any great player, and we play against similar guys in the A-10, you have to guard them in a multitude of ways with a multitude of people. The whole thing with great scorers is trying to get them off balance and don’t let them get into a rhythm.”
This will be the second year in a row that St. John’s and Fordham play in the Garden. The Red Storm squeaked out a 56-50 win over the Rams last season, avenging an 84-81 comeback win two years ago in The Bronx.
“It’s a big rivalry game,” Red Storm swingman Amir Garrett said. “These two teams have a history of playing against each other so I would say it’s important.”
St. John’s will be seeing a different Rams team than it has in the past. As mentioned above, Fordham may be young, but they have used the harsh schedule to toughen themselves up.
“You’re seeing them come out with more of an edge in practice,” Pecora said. “Playing on the road has to toughen us up. We’ve played more home games at Lehigh’s gym than we have at Rose Hill. One of the first 11 is at home; no other team in the country is doing this.”
Another difference for Fordham it that it is playing without star forward Chris Gaston, who has led the team in scoring and rebounding for the past three seasons.
“We’re doing all of this without Gaston,” Pecora said of Gaston, who had knee surgery recently and is out a couple of more weeks.
“People are forgetting that you have one senior, who is an all-conference player and is an automatic double-double guy. I’m sure some of those L’s become W’s if that guy is around.”
asulla-heffinger@nypost.com