CINCINNATI — At some point, the Musketeers are going to have to win games against top-tier teams in the Big East to build their NCAA Tournament resume. Tuesday night presents that kind of opportunity, as the Musketeers welcome the St. John’s Red Storm to the Cintas Center.
Whenever a Rick Pitino-coached team comes into your arena, there’s a different kid of buzz. Pitino has revived the St. John’s program, and they have an inside track to the NCAA Tournament.
This is a really good Red Storm team. They’re active on the offensive end, relentless on the glass and efficient in shooting the basketball.
St. John’s (12-3, 3-1) celebrated the memory of their late, colorful head coach by beating Butler, 70-62, on “Lou Carnesecca Day” on Saturday afternoon.
The Red Storm was led by 20 points, 11 rebounds and four steals from RJ Luis Jr., his fourth double-double of the season. But it was Seton Hall transfer Kadary Richmond who took over the game in the final five minutes, scoring five points, with two steals and an assist as St. John’s rallied from a seven-point deficit in the second half. Richmond finished with 11 points, six assists, six rebounds and three steals.
“I think he took over the game at that time,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said of Richmond. “But he needs to do that from the opening tip to the end of the game, that’s the way he needs to play. He was responsible for this win… but he needs to do that the whole game.”
St. John’s won the game despite going just 1-for-21 from 3-point range.
“When you go 1-for-21 and you win the game, and you’re not doing many things right, that speaks volumes about what you’re all about,” Pitino said. “I think they were all good threes, there weren’t any bad ones. They were wide open. We’ll continue to work at it.”
The Xavier Musketeers (9-6, 1-3) return home after a disappointing 69-63 road loss to Georgetown on Friday night. Xavier’s leading scorer and rebounder Zach Freemantle returned to action on Friday at Georgetown after missing three games due to a lower body injury. Freemantle posted team highs of 16 points and seven rebounds in Xavier’s third conference loss in four tries.
“I worried a little bit about his return to play because it’s really hard to do,” Xavier coach Sean Miller said of Freemantle. “That first game, you can see where he’s a little rusty. Maybe he was at times, but I thought he did really well. He was one of the best players on our team.”
Freemantle was injured in Xavier’s 68-65 loss to crosstown rival Cincinnati on Dec. 14. After starting 8-2, Xavier has dropped four-of-five, with all four losses coming by six points or less.
Here are the Players to Watch on the St. John’s Red Storm ahead of Tuesday night’s game.
Players to Watch
1. #12 R.J. Luis Jr. 6’7″ 215 lbs. Jr. Guard/Forward Miami, Fla. UMass Transfer
16.5 pts, 6.2 rebs, 46.3 FG%, 23.4 3-PT FG%, 73.9 FT%. 28.3 mpg
A member of the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team in 2022-2023 with UMass, Luis Jr. is in his second season with the Red Storm. He averaged double-digit points in his first season with the Red Storm, with 14 games scoring in double figures and one with 20 points.
This season, Luis Jr. has scored in double figures in every game but one this season. That includes four 20-point games and a season-high 24 points twice. In addition, Luis Jr. has four double-doubles on the season and has played 30+ minutes six times this season.
2. #24 Zuby Ejiofor 6’9″ 240 lbs. Jr. Forward Garland, Texas Kansas Transfer
14.7 pts, 7.8 rebs, 31 blå, 58.9 FG%, 5-20 3-PT FG, 68.1 FT%, 29.9 mpg
Also in his second season at St. John’s, Ejiofor began his collegiate career at Kansas in 2022-2023. He’s been on a tear of late, scoring in double figures in seven straight games and posting three double-doubles in that stretch. That seven-game stretch began with Ejiofor scoring 28 and 22 points, respectively. Ejiofor is also a really efficient shooter, with just two games where he has shot less than 50 percent from the floor.
3. #5 Deivon Smith 6’0″ 175 lbs. Sr. Guard Decatur, Ga. Utah Transfer
11 pts/gm., 5.9 rebs, 68 ast.-29 TO, 29 stl, 45.2 FG%, 40% 3-PT FG, 16-23 FT, 28.7 mpg
Smith is playing with his fourth school in his collegiate career, but he’s coming off a historic season at Utah. With five triple-doubles, Smith has the second-most double-doubles in a single-season in NCAA history. His 7.1 assists per game ranked sixth in the country, and Smith had 13 double-doubles and 10 games with double-digit assists
This season, Smith has five games with more than five assists. He’s scored in double-digits in each of his last four games and has also played 30+ minutes in each of his last four games.
4. #1 Kadary Richmond 6’8″ 205 lbs. Gr. Guard Brooklyn, N.Y. Seton Hall Transfer
10.8 pts, 5.4 rebs, 46.4 FG%, 3-17 3-PT FG, 44.2 FT%, 30.9 mpg
A member of Seton Hall’s 2024 NIT Championship team, after spending three seasons with the team, Richmond had an elite season in 2024. For starters, Richmond was named to the First-Team All-Big East. Richmond was second in Division I with NINE 20-point, five-rebound, five-assist games. In addition, Richmond had nine 20-point games in CONFERENCE play. Plus, he was one of just two players in the Big East to rank in the top 11 in points (10th, 17.1), rebounding (11th, 6.9), assists (5th, 5.1) and steals (2nd, 2.2).
Richmond has eight games with five+ assists this season. In addition, he has 10 games scoring in double figures, and he has played 30+ minuets nine times this season.
5. #7 Seven Wilcher 6’4″ 190 lbs. So. Guard Plainfield, N.J.
9.3 pts, 2.5 rebs, 45.8 FG%, 37.5 3-PT FG%, 16-17 FT, 24.5 mpg
Wilcher is in his second season with St. John’s, and he has seven double-digit scoring games this season. Three times this season, Wilcher has played 30+ minutes, and he has three games with multiple three-point field goals.
6. #0 Aaron Scott 6’7″ 210 lbs. Sr. Guard/Forward Spring, Texas North Texas Transfer
7.6 pts, 3.9 rebs, 39% FG, 26.9 3-PT FG%, 14-16 FT, 24 mpg
Brining in three years of experience from North Texas, who won the 2023 NIT Championship, Scott started all 72 games over his last two seasons. Scott has five double-digit point games this season, and he had a double-double in mid-December. Scott has played 30+ minutes four times this season.
7. #8 Vincent Iwuchukwu 7’1″ 250 lbs. Jr. Center Lagos, Nigeria USC Transfer
3.5 pts, 2.1 rebs, 53.7 FG%, 0-2 3-PT FG, 5-7 FT, 8.8 mpg
Iwuchukwu played at USC for two seasons and-played in 45 games with 16 starts. So far this season, Iwuchukwu has played double-digit minutes six times and had a season-high 11 points back in late December.
8. #11 Jaiden Glover 6’4″ 205 lbs. Fr. Guard Brooklyn, N.Y.
2.8 pts, 35.3 FG%, 8-21 3-PT FG, 4-7 FT, 7.1 mpg
9. # 17 Ruben Prey 6’10” 230 lbs. Fr. Forward Lisbon, Portugal
2.2 pts, 1.1 rebs, 11-16 FG, 1-4 3-PT FG, 6-12 FT, 7.1 mpg
Prey has one start this season, where he played a season-high 11 minutes against Delaware on December 28th.
Head Coach: Rick Pitino (2nd season)
Simply put, Rick Pitino is one of the greatest head coaches in College Basketball history. A 2013 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, Pitino enters Tuesday night with 866 wins and is the third-highest leader among active head coaches with a .720 winning percentage in the NCAA Tournament.
In his first season with the Red Storm, St. John’s won 20 games and advanced to the Big East Tournament Semifinals for the first time since 2000. Their 11 Big East wins were the most since the 2010-2011 season.
In his career, Pitino is the only head coach to win a National Championship at two different schools (Kentucky and Louisville). He’s also the first coach to take three different programs to the Final Four (Kentucky, Louisville and Providence).
Keys to the Game
1. Take care of the ball: St. John’s is a really active defensive team, forcing 16.3 turnovers per game and averaging 6.3 steals per game. Taking care of the ball, especially at home, is paramount for Xavier in a game they really have to win to stay afloat in the Big East.
2. Rebounding: The Red Storm average 41.3 rebounds per game. Without Zach Fremantle, it’s going to have to be a team effort for Xavier to go toe-to-toe with St. John’s on the glass.
3. Force St. John’s into tough shots: St. John’s shoots 46.7 percent from the floor. That’s good, but they only shoot 30.9 percent from three-point range. The Red Storm only have one player who shoots 40 percent from beyond the arc (Deivon Smith). Forcing the Red Storm into tough shots will go a long way towards Xavier winning a crucial game Tuesday night.
4. Offensive efficiency: Considering, though, the Red Storm are a really good and efficient offensive team, Xavier is going to have to shoot the ball and score efficiently.
Score Prediction: St. John’s 84 – Xavier 81
I’m expecting a lot of points Tuesday night at the Cintas Center. But until Xavier beats one of the Big East’s upper-tier teams, it’s hard for me to pick them to win. This is a crucial game. Being 2-3 vs. 1-4 in Big East play is a massive difference.
