St. John’s is riding a three-game winning streak and Red Storm fans are giddy about the program’s first potential NCAA tournament appearance since 2002.
But here comes first-place Pittsburgh and the likely return of leading scorer Ashton Gibbs. The teams will square off at high noon on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
“For over a decade now, they’ve been the dominant team in the Big East and this year in particular as impressive as any team in the country in methodically dismantling opponents, with their defense, their physicality, the ability to impose the preferred style of play or will on teams over the course of a game,” St. John’s coach Steve Lavin said Thursday.
“We’re well aware we’ve got our hands full. We’re fortunate to be playing at home and hope that we’ve got a lot of support from our Johnnies fan-base.”
Gibbs, Pitt’s leading scorer, has missed three straight games with a left MCL injury, but said he plans to return for St. John’s (16-9, 8-5 Big East). The former Seton Hall Prep star has been practicing all week, but did not play in Wednesday’s win over South Florida.
“Don’t know what Ashton’s status is; we’ll see how he feels today,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said.
“He needs to go against some contact first and go into some live action before we make that decision and he hasn’t done that yet.”
(Update: Gibbs was medically cleared to play later Thursday.)
Pitt (24-2, 12-1) has won five straight overall, and three in a row since Gibbs’s injury. Former St. Anthony standout Travon Woodall has ably filled in during Gibbs’ absence.
“I think any time you have an injury or a player that misses a couple of ballgames, it provides an opportunity for other players to step up and produce and as a result a team can gain confidence in their ability to continue to win in spite of a key injury,” Lavin said.
“Then when that player comes back, he’s now got a stronger team in terms of the confidence the other players gained in his absence, but also more complete when he comes back and your at full strength.”
Jerry Palm of CollegeRPI.com currently has Pitt as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, and St. John’s as a 6.
The Johnnies have bolstered their resume by going 4-3 on the road in the conference, winning back-to-back games at Cincinnati and at Marquette.
At home, they have impressive wins over Duke, UConn, Georgetown and Notre Dame.
“It’s important because it means they’re doing the things that it takes to be successful in tough environments and that’s what the NCAA tournament is about, challenging yourself to be able to execute in a single-elimination game format,” Lavin said.
Pitt presents the latest challenge, and one that will be even tougher assuming Gibbs makes his return.
