St. John's vs Xavier: game thread

St. John's, coming off of a thrilling win over the Providence Friars, face the Xavier Musketeers tonight at Madison Square Garden. And in tonight's game, the team hopes to at least keep the pressure on the ranked Musketeers, who reeled off a 16-1 run in the first half of their first meeting this season - a game that ended with a final score of 97-82.

Playing at home - in front of the friendly MSG crowd and a number of recruits the staff wants to impress - may help.

As might the experience of pulling out a road win against Providence with smart late play. If the team can hang close, they have explosive enough scorers who have tended to play well in the second half.

But first, the team has to slow down Trevon Blueitt - who scored 40 points against Cincinnati in a loss on Thursday - and Edmond Sumner, the tall point guard who tore through their defenses in the previous meeting. All of this while keeping the bigger Musketeers off of the glass.

Any ideas how St. John's can pull off this win? Let's start thinking big...