St. John's vs NJIT: Red Storm looks to get back on track

After the most difficult loss of the season, St. John's takes on NJIT as they look to get back on the winning track.

How to Watch

Tipoff is scheduled for noon and the game will be televised nationally on Fox Sports 1. The radio broadcast can be found on 970am (WNYM).

Scouting St. John's

St. John's is coming into Sunday's contest off a loss Friday night to the Incarnate Word Cardinals. The Red Storm is 7-4 and had their first signature win last Sunday at Madison Square Garden against Syracuse.

Federico Mussini leads the Johnnies in scoring with 13.6 points per game. Friday night, the Italian freshman only mustered 7 points and 4 assists in a 73-51 loss. Against Syracuse, Mussini scored 17 points while knocking down five threes. Also, he is second on the team in assists with 2.6 per game.

St. John's second leading scorer is Durand Johnson. The graduate transfer is averaging 11.4 points per game and 4.7 rebounds per game. He has turned in back-to-back 15-point performances against Syracuse and Incarnate Word.

After Mussini and Johnson, the Johnnies have three players averaging over eight points per game. Ron Mvouika, Yankuba Sima, and Christian Jones are averaging 8.9, 8.7, and 8.2 points per game, respectively. The freshman Sima has been a force down low for Chris Mullin. He is averaging 6.6 rebounds and 3.6 blocks.

Scouting NJIT

NJIT, out of the Atlantic Sun, comes into the matchup with St. John's with a record of 6-5. Most recently, the Highlanders fell to Columbia 65-56 last Saturday night. The New Jersey school has also played the likes of Kentucky and Providence earlier this season.

NJIT has four scorers who average double digits. Their leading scorer is Damon Lynn, who averages 17.3 points per game. He comes into this game after scoring 11 against Columbia, but he scored 19 and 24 against Kentucky and Providence, respectively.

Ky Howard and Tim Coleman average 14.2 and 13.9 points. Tim Coleman is a 6-5 junior forward from Union, New Jersey. He is the team's leading rebounder with 7.4. In the Columbia game, Coleman scored 3 points but in his previous two contests, he scored at least 20.

The last meeting between the two schools took place on November 14, 2014. St. John's won 77-58. Rysheed Jordan led the way for the Johnnies with 18 points followed by Chris Obekpa and Sir'Dominic Pointer with 13 each.

St. John's Keys to the Game

Rebounding. St. John's needs to win the rebounding battle. In each of St. John's last six games, the team that won the rebounding battle went on to win the game. St. John's should be bigger because NJIT plays two forwards usually in the rotation with Terrence Smith being their biggest at 6-6.

Defend the arc: In their last game, NJIT fired 25 three pointers and only made five in a nine-point loss. Three-point shooting for both teams will be the difference in the game. If the Red Storm can continue, the four double digit scorers they will be in good shape. Damon Lynn also, went 4-of-17 in the loss to Columbia, so if you hold him specifically in check, that is important.

Final Prediction

Red Storm 68 Highlanders 54