Game thread: St. John’s vs Seton Hall

St. John’s faces Seton Hall for the second time this season, hoping to be the team that leaves with the 8-7 Big East record, not the 7-8 Big East record.

After all, the NCAA Tournament bubble may be soft, but we don’t know if it’s quite THAT soft, especially with potential “bad” losses coming against Xavier (twice) and DePaul. A team wants to have taken care of most of its business by this time, giving enough of a cushion to take a bad regular-season loss...

St. John’s hasn’t done that yet. Chris Mullin’s Johnnies are in control of their destiny, but they need every win they can get.

And, because there is often drama — Mustapha Heron is out again tonight, with the same knee issue that sidelined him against DePaul.

And St. John’s will be in gray uniforms.

In honor of Senior Night, let’s give it up one time for forward Marvin Clark II.

He came out of a pretty precarious situation in his life to catch the eye of one of the nation’s best coaches at Michigan State. He found a way to play for the Spartans, a perennial NCAA Tournament participant.

Seeing that extended playing time would be better found somewhere else, took a flyer on the new St. John’s regime, to help build in a place where postseason appearances have been few and far between.

Clark has done a thing that so many tweeners who have played at St John’s have not been able to do — take they are undersized game and bring it to their opponents, becoming a matchup problem.

The forward from Kansas City has limits.

Sometimes playing out of position shows.

But he’s always been accountable and been a strong building block for what Chris Mullin is trying to build in Queens. Let’s make sure to give him a big salute tonight on his senior night.

Also, let’s hope that in front of his family he plays a huge game and beats the living tar out of Seton Hall.

Game Information

Who: St. John’s Red Storm (19-8, 7-7 Big East) vs Seton Hall Pirates (16-10, 7-7 Big East)

Where: Madison Square Garden (capacity: 19,812)

When: Saturday, February 23rd, 8:00 PM ET

TV: Fox Sports 1 | online

Audio: TuneIn Radio | online

Odds: St. John’s, -4

Last Meeting: A hard-to-forget missed call, then a buzzer-beater from Seton Hall started off Big East play with a loss.