St. John’s vs Arizona State: 2019 NCAA Tournament game preview, TV schedule
By Joey Loose
St. John’s and Arizona State will meet in the First Four in Dayton on Friday night; will it be the Red Storm or Sun Devils moving on to face Buffalo?
TV schedule: Wednesday, March 20, 9:10 pm ET. truTV
Arena: University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio
After winning their first 12 games of the season, things were looking bright for Chris Mullins and St. John’s (21-12). Since then, their play has been less stellar, though an 8-10 record in Big East play was enough to make them one of the last four teams into the NCAA Tournament. They did win at Marquette and at home against Villanova (both teams were ranked at the time), but also struggled at times, losing twice to DePaul, Providence, and Xavier.
Offensively, this is an impressive unit, and all five starters were in double figures scoring this year. The player to watch is junior guard Shamorie Ponds (19.5 ppg, 5.2 apg), who had 28 points in last month’s upset over Marquette. Junior guard Mustapha Heron (14.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg) can hit outside shots while sophomore guard LJ Figueroa (14.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg) is a very efficient shooter. The big man to watch is senior forward Marvin Clark (10.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg), though the guards do much of the scoring for the Red Storm.
St. John’s inclusion certainly came as a surprise to many, as they sit just 78th in KenPom and 73rd in NET. They didn’t play a very tough non-conference schedule, but do rank 69th in offensive efficiency. They avoid turnovers and forced a fair amount but are one of the worst teams in the nation at offensive rebounding. Free throws have also been a struggle, though Ponds is typically solid.
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On the other hand, Arizona State (22-10) won 12 games in an abysmal Pac-12 and find themselves in the First Four for the second straight season. Bobby Hurley’s team likely got their bid off early season wins against Mississippi State and Kansas, but they also lost to Vanderbilt and at home to Princeton. They did win six of their last seven games before being upended by Oregon in the Pac-12 Tournament, and perhaps they can ride that momentum into Dayton.
Freshman guard Luguentz Dort (16.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg) has led the Sun Devils in scoring, though he’s had offensive struggles at time this year. The player to watch is senior forward Zylan Cheatham (11.8 ppg, 10.4 rpg) a rebounding machine who had 22 boards in a big rivalry win over Arizona a few months back. Another scorer to keep an eye on is sophomore guard Remy Martin (13.4 ppg, 5.1 apg), who just scored 27 at Arizona a week and half ago.
The Sun Devils are slightly better in the metrics, coming in at 61st in KenPom and 63rd in NET. Those big wins early certainly spurred this team, and they are one of the nation’s best when it comes to free throw shooting. They’re more known for offense than defense, though Cheatham’s presence has made them a decent team at interior defense.
For the Red Storm, they need their offense to show up and hit some shots; they only put up 54 points in their Big East Tourney loss to Marquette. They need their stars like Ponds to have big games while also doing what they can to defend against Cheatham. For the Sun Devils, finding their own mojo on offensive will be the key. These teams play at similar paces, but Arizona State has a big advantage if this becomes a close, free throw shooting game late.
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There are a lot of teams who could’ve been chosen ahead of these teams, but there’s no reason to argue about that any further. Arizona State and St. John’s have both shown glimpses of brilliance this season. This should be a closely contest game at an exciting pace. I do think the Sun Devils have been playing just a bit better lately, and I expect them to pull out the win. If this game is close late, I expect Cheatham’s presence to be a big factor.