Game Thread: St. John's vs. Marquette

St. John's vs. Marquette

When: Wednesday, March 9, 2016 at 9:30 p.m. ET

Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

How to Watch: FOX Sports 1 or FOX Sports Go App

This is it. Do or die time for the Red Storm. They can live another day or advance to 2016-17 mode.

And St. John's certainly has a chance as they played Marquette tough twice this season with both games coming when they were missing Yankuba Sima.

The Johnnies have improved their interior defense (thanks to the development of Kassoum Yakwe and Sima) since the last meeting at Carnesecca Arena. Both freshman, Christian Jones and Amar Alibegovic will have to be physical with Henry Ellenson and Luke Fischer and score their fair share of points offensively if they are going to pull off the upset.

Also, Federico Mussini, who has struggled during the second half of conference play, will have to have a strong game against the Golden Eagles' freshman guards.

The Red Storm are likely to come out with undeniable passion and energy given that this could be the final game of Ron Mvouika, Durand Johnson and Felix Balamou's careers. That aggressiveness could be critical especially if Chris Mullin decides to throw a press at Marquette, who turn the ball over 15 times a game.

If the Red Storm can somehow limit Ellenson, limit their own turnovers and make shots from the perimeter, the Johnnies will have a good shot to steal a game and advance to play Xavier on Thursday.

Can the Johnnies get off to a good start for the first time in three weeks?

Will Jones continue to play strong basketball?

Pre-game reading:

What changed since Marquette and St. John's last met?

Big East Tournament Preview: Marquette vs. St. John's