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St. John’s Basketball: 2018-19 Non-Conference Schedule Breakdown

By Nick Bello

PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 7: Justin Simon #5, Tariq Owens #11, Marvin Clark II #13, and Shamorie Ponds #2 of the St. John's Red Storm celebrate against the Villanova Wildcats at the Wells Fargo Center on February 7, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 7: Justin Simon #5, Tariq Owens #11, Marvin Clark II #13, and Shamorie Ponds #2 of the St. John's Red Storm celebrate against the Villanova Wildcats at the Wells Fargo Center on February 7, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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St. John’s Basketball has released the team’s non-conference schedule for the 2018-19 season. Who are the marquee opponents for the Red Storm?

Last week, St. John’s announced their non-conference schedule that starts with the home opener against Loyola Maryland November 6th and ends against Duke for a Saturday showdown at Cameron in early February. The Red Storm will also play in both the Legends Classic in November at the Barclays Center,  as well as the Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival in early December.

The Red Storm start their year off with a couple of very easy games at home that are almost sure wins. They start off their campaign against Loyola Maryland of the Patriot League who went a sad 9-22 last season. Although Red Storm fans have seen upsets to teams like this before, Incarnate Word in 2015 *Sigh*, this should be an easy win.

They then face Bowling Green at home two days later which should be another easy win. The Red Storm then have a week off before they play on the road against Rutgers in the Gavitt Games. Although Rutgers escaped with a win against St. John’s in a preseason charity game last season, fans shouldn’t worry too much about this one especially if Mustapha Heron is cleared to play.

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Three days later, the Red Storm will play in the Legend’s Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. They will face off against Cal in their first game and then will either play Temple or VCU the next day. This will be a must-see tournament as Shamorie Ponds plays in his home borough of Brooklyn which could swing the tournament in the favor of the Red Storm. Nonetheless, they will face some top talent in this one so this isn’t a sure sweep.

After their two-day rondevu in Brooklyn, the Red Storm have yet another week off before facing Maryland Eastern Shore at home. This is a tune up game before they head to Miami for the Hoophall Miami Invitational where they will face Georgia Tech. This could be an easy win as Georgia Tech is looking to have yet another ramblin wreck of a season.

They will then come back home and face off against Mount St. Mary’s in another tune up game before the Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival. Just like last year, the Red Storm are faced with a cake walk at the holiday festival as they are set to face Wagner, St. Francis of Brooklyn and Sacred Heart before the start of Big East play.

In February St. John’s will head south and face off against Duke at Cameron Indoor in almost a year to the day of the upset at the Garden that shocked the world. Depending on how the season has gone up until that point, this could be a battle of two ranked teams that is sure to be epic.

Next. 10 freshmen who'll outperform their recruiting rankings for 2018-19. dark

All in all, the Red Storm’s non-conference schedule is a bit on the soft side and may actually hurt their chance of gaining or retaining a top 25 ranking. That being said, if they struggle with their non-conference schedule, this season could go south in an instant.