Game Notes & Preview: (12) Providence (13-1, 1-0) vs St. John’s (7-7, 0-1) 1/2/16

Where: Dunkin’ Donuts Center – Providence, RI

When: 3:30pm EST

How: FS1 (Justin Kutcher & Dickey Simpkins)/WEEI 103.7 FM and Friars.com (John Rooke and Joe Hassett)/FriarTV

Game Notes

• Providence and St. John’s will meet for the 107th time on Saturday with the Red Storm leading, 60-46. The Friars and Red Storm have played every season since the 1969-70 season.
• St. John’s is 7-7 (0-1) on the season. The Red Storm are in their first season with Chris Mullin the helm. Mullin has led St. John’s to an impressive win against Syracuse but they have lacked consistency. Their firs Big East game resulted in a 10 point loss to Creighton on December 31st. The Red Storm are led in scoring by freshman guard Federico Mussini, who averages 13.4 points/game. Freshman Yankuba Sima is the leading rebounder, averaging 6.9 rebounds/game.
• The Friars were leapfrogged in the latest AP poll by Iowa State and Kentucky despite gaining more points from the week before. Providence is now 12th in the AP poll and moved up one spot in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll to 13th. Providence figures to move back into the top 10 if they handle St. John’s on Saturday.
• Opening Line: (12) Providence -17 vs. St. John’s 1/2/16

Game Preview

Providence’s Big East home opener is a look at two programs at different stages of development. The Friars are in year 5 under Ed Cooley and have a team that has been together a jelled over the last two seasons. St. John’s is in year 1 under rookie head coach Chris Mullin. Mullin and his staff was tasked with turning over almost the entire roster after Steve Lavin departed and went back to television. The Red Storm are young, listed as the 265th most experienced team in Division 1 by Kenpom.com — a number likely aided by graduate transfer Ron Mvouika.

The probable starters according to the game notes and prior box scores are:

Providence

• Kris Dunn – #3 – Junior
• Junior Lomomba – #32 – Junior
• Jalen Lindsey – #21 – Sophomore
• Rodney Bullock – #5 – Sophomore
• Ben Bentil – #0 – Sophomore

St. John’s

• Federico Mussini – #4 – Freshman
• Felix Balamou – #10 – Senior
• Ron Mvouika – #24 – Graduate Student
• Christian Jones – #2 – Junior
• Yankuba Sima – #35 – Freshman

The key to victory for Providence will be to not allow themselves to come out flat against a young St. John’s team. The Friars are better than St. John’s at every position and should win this game handily, but Big East games are never as easy as they might appear on paper. Look for Providence to force a lot of turnovers and stifle the Red Storm offense from the opening tap. If Providence does indeed come to play from the jump, this game could be over by halftime.

Prediction: Providence 82 St. John’s 65

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Mike Hopkins

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