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St. John’s has yet to win a Big East contest this season and will take a 15-game losing streak into Saturday night’s tilt with No. 1 Villanova at Wells Fargo Center.
Despite the long odds, Chris Mullin’s team has an opportunity to pull off what would be a tremendous upset less than a week after the Wildcats (21-3, 11-1 Big East) were installed as the No. 1 team in the nation.
“I always talk about it being an opportunity,” Mullin said Thursday on the Big East conference call. “That only comes if you play hard, unselfish, have good energy and are mentally focused on our game plan and know the personnel. Then you give yourself a chance to seize that opportunity. The preparation is so important leading up to the game. You have to put the work in to let yourself play free.”
It won’t be easy.
In league play, the Wildcats rank first in scoring defense (62.8), scoring margin (+12.8), scoring defense (62.8), free throw percentage (.801), field goal percentage (.465), and field goal percentage defense (.391).
After the Villanova game, the Johnnies play three of their remaining five at home, including two games at Madison Square Garden (Seton Hall, Providence) and one at Carnesecca Arena (DePaul). One of those — particularly DePaul — should represent the best chance to get a league win and avoid a possible 0-18 league slate entering the Big East Tournament (March 9-12) at the Garden.
“We have all new guys so that’s something they’ve had to experience themselves,” Mullin said of playing at the Garden. “As soon as you play one game there, within the first five minutes you get the feel it’s a little different. Coach [Lou] Carnesecca always stressed to us that you’re going on stage so you are practicing to get ready to perform at “The World’s Most Famous Arena.” It’s really about the preparation to be ready to perform on the world’s biggest stage.”
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LOGJAM IN THE MIDDLE
As the Big East heads into the final third of league play, No. 1 ranked Villanova sits in first place with an 11-1 mark and Xavier holds down the second slot at 9-3. Teams 3-8 are separated by only two games.
Seton Hall, Creighton and Georgetown are all 7-5 while Providence and Butler are 6-6. Marquette sits at 5-7.
On Saturday, FOX has a doubleheader starting at noon ET with Georgetown at No. 20 Providence followed by No. 5 Xavier at Butler at 2:30. Marquette hosts Creighton at 8 p.m. on FOX Sports Networks.
“When you look at our league, you gotta lace ’em up every night,” Providence coach Ed Cooley said.
“It’s a great time of the year and I couldn’t be more proud to be part of the Big East.”
BENTIL’S BREAKOUT
With his breakout season, Providence sophomore forward Ben Bentil seems like a lock for Most Improved Player honors and has also put himself in the conversation for Player of the Year and helped his NBA Draft stock.
The 6-foot-9 Bentil went off for 42 points and 12 rebounds in Wednesday’s 96-91 double-OT loss to Marquette and is averaging 20.6 points and 7.7 rebounds for the Friars.
“Bentil, he’s a man-child right now, I’ll tell you that,” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said.
“He ranks right up there when you look at his statistical numbers,” Providence’s Cooley said. “He’s made one of the biggest jumps in a long time that somebody in our league has done. ..He’s in great shape. He’s really, really confident. He’s playing with some guys that know his game well. He’s a tough matchup because he can play inside and out. He’s just got a level of confidence that he just feels like he’s a great basketball player and that really helps him.
“His ascension in college basketball has been really, really remarkable to see.”
With the new rules allowing college players to work out for NBA teams and participate in the NBA Combine without losing their eligibility, Bentil might be the kind of guy who opts to get some feedback from NBA folks.
He’s currently projected at No. 50 in 2017 by DraftExpress.com.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR RACE GETTING INTERESTING
While the smart money says Kris Dunn will win Big East Player of the Year honors (again), he has slowed his torrid pace of late while others like Bentil, Villanova’s Josh Hart and Seton Hall’s Isaiah Whitehead have stepped up.
“It’s going to be a hard day when you have to pick the best player,” Seton Hall’s Willard said.
Said Cooley: “There are a lot of players in our league that can be put into that category up and down the rosters. [Bentil’s] playing like a really great player in our league. Is he the Player of the Year? I don’t know, I can’t answer that. That’s for the other coaches to vote on. But he’s playing at a level that we need to him play at and we need him to exceed that in order for us to get our next win.”
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