St. John’s releases Big East part of schedule

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By Jason Schott – Daly Dose of Hoops Contributor - Twitter @JESchott19St. John’s Head Coach Steve Lavin will be ready to lead his team into a tough Big East Conference schedule. It was released on Wednesday, September 5^th, and there are plenty of great matchups to look forward to.  St. John’s opens the Big East part of the schedule with two road contests, as they play at Villanova on Wednesday, January 2^nd and Cincinnati on January 5^th.

St. John's Head Coach Steve Lavin being interviewed by
ESPN's Len Elmore after the Red Storm beat Lehigh on
November 9th, one of four games Lavin coached
last season. Photo by Jason Schott

They then return home for a nice stretch of home games at Madison Square Garden starting with regional rival Rutgers on Wednesday, January 9^th.  That is followed by an 11:00 AM tip-off on Saturday, January 12^th against Georgetown at Madison Square Garden, where Hoyas fans will be out in force. Three days later, on January 15^th, they will face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, whom they have beaten the past two seasons at The Garden.They go back on the road for games at DePaul on January 19^th and down to Piscataway, NJ for a battle at the RAC with Rutgers on January 23^rd. That is followed by another regional matchup with Seton Hall at home on Sunday, January 27^th. They face DePaul again, this time at Carnesecca Arena, on January 30^th   with tip-off at 9:00 pm.On Groundhog Day, February 2^nd, the Red Storm travel to Washington, D.C. for a battle with Georgetown. The game tips off at 4:00 pm and will be on CBS.They return home on February 6^th for a game with Connecticut, who is banned from postseason competition this year. That may not be the big matchup that college basketball fans have become accustomed to.They follow that up with their toughest week of the season, as they travel up to the Carrier Dome for a game with the Syracuse Orange, the Big East Conference Regular Season Champions, on Sunday, February 10^th.

Louisville's celebration after winning the 2012 Big East
Tournament. Photo by Jason Schott

That is followed up by a trip to Louisville on Valentine’s Day, February 14^th. Louisville made a surprise run to win the Big East Tournament and made the Final Four.The Red Storm then have practically a week off before hosting USF, who made the NCAA Tournament last year, on February 20^th. They stay home for a battle with Pittsburgh on Sunday, February 24^th. Pittsburgh will be looking to make up for a disappointing 2011-12 campaign and anytime St. John’s plays Pitt, can’t help thinking about Dwight Hardy’s Baryshnikov shot on February 19, 2011 in a big Red Storm win.The Red Storm then hit the road for games at Providence on March 2^nd and Notre Dame on March 5^th before closing out the regular season at home against Marquette on March 9^th.To see the entire St. John's schedule, click here for this link from RedStormSports.com: http://www.redstormsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/090512aaa.html