Look out for the Red Hot Red Storm

Photo/ Wendell Cruz

As week 10 in Men’s college basketball comes to a close, a team to keep an eye on is the St. John’s Red Storm. They are currently tied for first place in the Big East along with #4 University of Connecticut and Seton Hall University with a 4-1 conference record. St John’s has a 12-4 overall record and are climbing the rankings list.

Of those four games St John’s have in the loss column they have lost by less than eight points in three out of four. Their one big loss occurred earlier in the season losing by 16 to University of Michigan in which they turned the ball over 16 times. Since conference play began the Red Storm have been rolling. After dropping a close one to their rival UCONN at their stadium 69-65 they have won four straight. In those four wins they have picked up three straight against conference rivals Butler, Villanova, and Providence.

St John’s is led by their big man in the middle Senior Joel Soriano who currently leads his team’s average in points, rebounds and blocks. Not only does he get it done in the paint but he is also shooting lights out from the three. He is currently shooting 64% from beyond the arc. His running mate is senior guard Dannis Jenkins who came up big in their latest game against Providence. He scored 16 points along with dishing out eight assists. He is currently averaging the second most points on the team but leads in assists and steals per game.

If St John’s can keep up their momentum this is a team that can make a run come March. Winning out is something that is possible but it will be no easy task. Coming up they have two marquee matchups on the road against #22 Creighton University and Seton Hall. When they return home they host a tough Marquette team that is ranked #11 in the nation. All of these teams are allowing under 68 points per game to their opponents. But if St John’s can continue to crash the boards hard and create second chance points they have a recipe for success. As they are averaging just under 80 points per game which is 71st in the nation.