St. John’s in the Norm Roberts era hasn’t exactly been a road warrior in Big East play.
But maybe tonight’s the night. Maybe the stars will align, the Big East gods will smile, and the Red Storm finally will score that landmark road victory.
“The key is you have to focus on yourself and make sure that you do what you need to do because it’s going to be two baskets,” Roberts said. “It’s an arena, it’s a nice arena. There’s going to be a crowd, but it’s really two baskets and you’re playing basketball, so just play.”
The Red Storm (12-7, 2-5 Big East) is coming off back-to-back losses against elite conference opponents in which they faded in the final 10 minutes.
The Johnnies play at No. 17 Pittsburgh, an elite team that has lost two straight.
The Panthers (15-4, 5-2) remain a beast on defense, holding teams to 60 points, the lowest in the league. But the loss of DeJuan Blair, Sam Young and Levance Fields has been felt on the offensive end, where Pitt has slipped to 13th, just above St. John’s.
The loss of Fields, the former Xaverian star, has made the biggest impact. After a remarkable run of college point guards that includes Brandon Knight, Carl Krauser and Fields, Pitt coach Jamie Dixon has been forced to play combo guard Ashton Gibbs at the point.
“We need to execute better on both ends of the court,” Dixon said.
Whether the Red Storm’s struggling point guards — Malik Boothe and Malik Stith — can capitalize remains to be seen. It will take more than the ‘Liks,’ as Roberts is fond of calling them, for St. John’s to win in the Petersen Events Center.
The Red Storm is 6-40 in league road games under Roberts, having lost all three this season. It has not posted a win over a Top 25 foe on the road.
Forward D.J. Kennedy could be the difference. The Pittsburgh native said he grew up “100 yards from The Pete.” He knows another former Pittsburgh area star, Seton Hall’s Herb Pope, just had a big game against the Panthers because the two are in constant contact via text messaging.
Kennedy, a former prep teammate of Blair, has scored 964 points and grabbed 519 boards in his two-plus seasons. Blair left Pitt scoring 979 points and 769 boards. But it will take more than Kennedy for St. John’s to win. It will take 40 minutes, something it hasn’t done.
lenn.robbins@nypost.com