Who Is St. John?

Saint John could refer to a number of important figures in Christianity, including Saint John the Apostle, or John the Baptist, or John the Evangelist. We haven’t bothered to look up who, exactly St. John’s University is named after because we’re too interested in getting you hoops fans the latest low-down on what to expect when the Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the St. John’s Red Storm in what should be a thrilling regular season-ending battle.

For a good breakdown about the Red Storm, we turned to the college hoops stats hero of our generation, Kenpom.com. While the Red Storm started out as a Category Five, they’ve been downgraded to a Tropical Depression in the last couple of months. At one point in late December they’d rattled off a 9-1 record, but now with one game to go they’re 15-15 overall and 6-11 in the Big East. If they lose, they’ll have a sub-.500 record.

One of the biggest wins the Red Storm captured was over Notre Dame back in early January, when they won 71-65 at home in New York. They’re also coming off a particularly good win over Georgetown, a 59-56 overtime victory at home. However, the Storm have been just as bad at home as they have been good, losing to bottom-tier Big East teams like Virginia Tech and Cincinnati.

The strengths of this team appear to be in the paint, as they’re one of the better offensive rebounding teams in the game. However, guard play is down, as they’re not so hot at shooting threes or free throws, and they don’t hold onto the ball very well.

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

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