St. John’s vs Brown: game thread, how to watch, preview, TV

Even after the rousing win over West Virginia, no game is particularly easy for St. John’s. College basketball always has upsets; the team’s interior offense has struggles; mistakes and free throw shooting often crop up as problems.

The Red Storm get back into action against the Ivy League’s Brown Bears, a team that is certainly better than, say, Central Connecticut and Saint Peter’s. Respect for the opponent, cleaning the defensive glass, and communication will be key.

Game Details

Who: St. John’s Red Storm (7-2) vs. Brown Bears (5-4)

When: Tuesday, December 10th, 7:00 PM ET

Where: Carnesecca Arena, Queens, NY

TV: FS1 and Fox Sports Go

Audio: St. John’s website provides free audio for the game. That stream can be found by clicking here.

Tickets: You can secure a seat for $15 or more by clicking here.

Last Meeting: St. John’s defeated Brown 79-76 in Norm Roberts’ final season as head coach.

Quickly Scouting Brown

(Apologies for the late post, illness got in the way)

St. John’s faces a team whose wings and forwards crash the glass at an extreme rate, making up for all the shots the squad misses. The Bears have done decently for themselves against low and mid-tier opposition; their best win has been against Merrimack, and the best team they have played, per kenpom.com, has been a solid Sacred Heart squad.

St. John’s will be a step up in talent and game speed for them. The Bears have had hefty turnover problems; turning the ball over on more than 23% of their possessions, they are in the bottom 50 in percentage of possessions ending in a turnover.

The Bears’ uptempo style is powered by junior Tamenang Choh (#25), and seniors Brandon Anderson (#2) and Zach Hunsaker (#20).

Choh plays more as the slasher, looking for most of his offense inside the arc. Anderson is the one who picks up the steals; he takes about a third of his shots from deep. Both Choh and Anderson hand out assists in Brown’s system. Brandon Anderson is 20th in the nation in scoring.

Hunsaker is more of the spot-up three-point shooter. He has shot 35% in the past but is under 26% this season. He has also hit 20 consecutive free throws this season.

Matt DeWolf (#20), a 6’9” junior forward, starts in center. He is a solid rebounder and shoots 62% inside the arc, but plays than half the team’s minutes. Sophomore Jaylen Gainey (#22) also sees minutes inside.

On the wings, offensive rebounding crashers Joshua Howard (#5) and David Mitchell (#0) are 6’6” athletes who chase misses. Joshua Howard is Juwan Howard’s son. Chicago-bred freshman Perry Cowan (#23) ids a 6’4” player who has seen increasing minutes as the season has progressed.

Keys to the Game

Concentrate. St. John’s will want to show Brown just how fearsome the Johnnies’ defense can be and get out in transition. The Red Storm want to take Brown’s aggressiveness and use it against them tonight early, and often. But Brown can turn lackadaisical defense into quick buckets. Diligence and respect for opponent are key. especially after a big win.

Take good shots. The Red Storm have been goaded into taking lower-percentage shots — off-balance runners, long jumpers — and the team needs to sharpen their attack against Brown.

Share the ball. When the Red Storm are at their best, they share the ball on offense and do not try to make every play an individual “save us all” play.

Prediction

St. John’s gets a run for their money early, but settles down and flummoxes Brown, 83-68.