18. St. John’s (5-3)
The Red Storm truly stormed onto the scene last season, though perhaps we should pump the brakes on St. John’s a bit this season. There are legitimate questions about the defense that certainly reared their head in giving up 100 to Alabama, let alone some shortcomings at the Players Era Festival. We’re still relatively young into this season and this transfer-laden roster can still make waves, but how would they handle even more pressure this week?
Back home in New York, the Red Storm took care of business to get back in the win column, knocking off Ole Miss 63-58 on Saturday night. It wasn’t the best offensive performance, with some rough shooting on both ends, but the Red Storm made enough plays, led by a 15-point, 9-rebound effort out of Zuby Ejiofor.
You can’t question the effort that Rick Pitino has put into this program and his players certainly have potential. They added another solid win, albeit in something of an ugly fashion to get their fifth win of the season. What matters is the W and how things progress from here. Next up is an easy home date with Iona next weekend as the Red Storm have a relatively chill December ahead.