ST. JOHN’S at SETON HALL – Tonight 7:00 – MSG; WABC
With the preamble and pre-Big East season behind it, St. John’s finally opens league play tonight against cross-river rival Seton Hall at the Meadowlands.
But the Red Storm (7-4) will probably go into their first telling test of the campaign without their best player.
Daryll Hill is averaging a team-high 13.7 points, but the junior shooting guard missed last week’s Holiday Festival with a sore left knee. He’s still listed as day-to-day, but even coach Norm Roberts doesn’t expect him to play tonight against the Hall.
“He’s still day-to-day, [but] I would not expect him to go,” said Roberts, who will start Cedric Jackson again in Hill’s place. “[They’re using] ice, steam; there’s no need for a scope. Surgery is the last-ditch thing you’d do. He’s getting better, there’s not much swelling. But he’s still day-to-day.”
The Red Storm played well without him, holding Columbia and UMass to a combined 29.5 percent shooting to win their second-straight Holiday Festival.
Guard Eugene Lawrence stepped up in Hill’s absence to win MVP honors; but after being swept last year by Seton Hall, tonight will be St. John’s most telling test to date.
“This will be a good test. We don’t have a road victory, so this should be big,” Lawrence said.
“Plus, we’ll have a big chip on our shoulder since they beat us twice. We have to come out with a different type of mindset. We can’t take any plays off on defense.”
That’s been their only constant this season, allowing a Big East-low 54.3 points per game.
Still, tonight should be their most accurate barometer so far, with the Red Storm’s strength of schedule a sickly 171st in the latest RPI rankings.
“I think they play similar [to us]. They want to get a good shot every time down, and they don’t want to give away anything easy,” Roberts said.
The Red Storm press more, while the Pirates (8-3) are more of a shot-blocking club, but it will still be a good test of defensive-minded, offensively challenged clubs.
“Louis Orr does a great job with his team; they’re disciplined, play hard and don’t give anything away easy,” Roberts added.
“Both teams are coming off wins, feel good about themselves. We’re going to have to play well.”
