St. John’s has mostly held serve so far. The Johnnies have won the games they was supposed to, and have usually done so in empathic fashion.
Their nine victories have come by an average of 21.6 points. Their two losses, to projected NCAA Tournament teams Baylor and Georgia, were decided by a grand total of four.
They pass the eye test. They look the part. They have strong metrics, ranked 13th in KenPom and 27th in the NET rankings, the sorting tool the selection committee uses to differentiate teams. They are slotted in the top 21 in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
But now the schedule stiffens for the first time since the trip to the Bahamas a month ago. For the first time, in fact, St. John’s will play a road game, and it will do so in one of its houses of horrors, to face Providence at typically hostile Amica Mutual Pavilion (formerly the Dunkin’ Donuts Center). On New Year’s Eve, the Red Storm visit Creighton, another place that historically has not been kind to this program. St. John’s last won at Providence with fans in the stands in 2015. It previously left Omaha victorious in 2019. The aforementioned opponents are weaker than they were last season, in part due to injuries and stars leaving for the pros.
