When St. John’s takes the Carnesecca Arena floor today against Niagara (4 p.m, SNY), the Red Storm won’t have played for nearly two weeks. But they’re hoping that time – plus finally practicing with their entire team
healthy for the first time all season – will help them play better than that last disappointing outing in Miami.
They’ll be coming off their first loss, a lopsided 66-47 defeat back on Dec. 2. But theyÃre hoping the time
they’ve had to tighten up their defense and work on getting deeper into their zone offense will pay off against their MAAC foe. “The thing that’s been exciting is Wednesday was the first time we had everybody on the floor at the same time: Rob [Thomas], Anthony Mason Jr. Our guys were genuinely really excited,” said coach Norm Roberts. “It was really exciting to see how much quicker they were, how much easier we can core the ball; that’s what has me excited.” Forwards Thomas and Mason Jr. won’t play until Wednesday when they open the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii. The former tore his ACL last season while a partial qualifier, and wonÃt be eligible to play today because finals are still ongoing. The latter should be back after re-injuring his
already-sprained ankle in a cameo appearance in Miami. “[The layoff] can work both ways. It can be bad because we can be rusty, but it can also be good for us because we can get healthy. We have a lot of players hurting and injured, so it’s pretty good for us. We’ll get to reload and come out together,” said freshman D.J.
Kennedy, who has averaged 12.4 points and 8.8 boards in Mason’s absence. “Unfortunately Mase got hurt. I didn’t know what to expect, but I’ve just wanted to produce.”