The Georgetown Hoyas failed miserably in their first Big East road game, falling badly to Notre Dame in the Big East opener. Now, after defeating DePaul on New Year's Day, the Hoyas will try to get that elusive Big East road win again when they take on St. John's at Madison Square Garden.
This is no longer a cake walk for the Hoyas. St. John's is much improved, having started the season 9-3, including 2-0 in the Big East. New coach Steve Lavin has brought energy into the program, and after a slow start, the Red Storm has won four games in a row. Both Big East wins are on the road, as they have already won at West Virginia and at Providence. Currently, they are ranked 10th in the RPI, per Casual Hoya.
Casual Hoya admitted that it is concerned about this game.
I must admit that our performance up until 12/23/10 had lulled me into some sort of Zen place (or the closest that I can get to Zen). We were beating quality teams on the road and doing it by playing basketball that was enjoyable to watch- extra pass for a 3 here, backdoor for a layup there. Something has happened since then... We seem to have lost some of that cohesion and trust and our problem with grabbing defensive rebounds have resurfaced.These issues, coupled with the fact that this will be the first marquee BE match up in MSG for the Lavin-led Johnnies leads me to assess a SEVERE level of Nervousness. I also have a feeling that my level of nervousness will remain at a minimum of SEVERE for the next 3 months. I am really going to have to figure out a creative way to add some levels quickly. West F***** Virginia and Pittsburgh are next.
The game will be on ESPN2 at 7 p.m.