Red Storm looking for fifth straight win in tilt vs. BC

Field Level Media|published: Sat 9th December, 17:04 2023

Dec 6, 2023; Queens, New York, USA; St. John's Red Storm forward Brady Dunlap (44) at Carnesecca Arena. credits: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

When speaking about Boston College standout Quinten Post, St. John's coach Rick Pitino dropped in a Nikola Jokic comparison.

The Red Storm hope to provide enough defensive answers against Post and go for their fifth straight win Sunday afternoon when they face Boston College in the NABC Brooklyn Showcase.

The Red Storm (6-2) are playing their fifth and final major nonconference opponent and so far own wins over Utah and West Virginia. St. John's is averaging 86.5 points during its winning streak, which continued with Wednesday's 85-50 rout over Sacred Heart. Joel Soriano got his fourth double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds and Jordan Dingle added 17.

Soriano is the Big East's top rebounder at 10.5 boards per game, and his 17.4 points are third in the conference entering Saturday. Post is also high on the ACC leaderboards, especially behind the arc, where Pitino invoked the Jokic reference.

Post heads into Sunday sixth in the ACC in scoring at 19.2 points, fifth with 8.5 rebounds and also is shooting 45.7 percent from 3-point range after shooting 42.6 from behind the arc last season.

"He is very difficult for any center to play because they run a pick and roll, that if you help at all off the pick and roll, he pops out and is a lethal 3-point shooter," Pitino said Friday. "He is a great free-throw shooter. He does for them what (Nikola Jokic) does for the Nuggets. He is an outstanding college basketball player."

The Eagles (7-3) head to Brooklyn with three wins in their past four games since back-to-back losses to Loyola of Chicago and Colorado State two weeks ago. Boston College posted its most lopsided win when it recovered from a sluggish opening half and scored 63 points in its 95-64 rout of Holy Cross Friday.

Jaeden Zackery scored 18 points while Post nearly posted a triple-double by finishing with 12 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and six steals.

"We knew we weren't playing our best," Zackery said. "We weren't playing good defense, and they brought the game close, so they gave it their all in the first half, and it was visible, and we didn't. We knew going into the second half that we had to come out and play defense."

—Field Level Media