With a trip to Madison Square Garden at stake, Boston College hosts former Big East foe St Johns tonight at 7:30 in the second round of the Pre-Season NIT. St Johns has started the year 2-0, after knocking off Cornell last night in Conte Forum. St Johns is an athletic squad that can really run the floor. However, their lack of discipline hurts them. They get out of position on defense, hence why they allowed Cornell to score 75 points and climb back into the game last night. They are talented offensively, with Sophomore guard DJ Kennedy leading the way averaging 22.5 points per game. Kennedy is establishing himself as the go-to guy for the Red Storm this year. In all likelihood Corey Raji will be assigned to guard him. Look for Kennedy to shoot the ball 15-20 times tonight. The Red Storm's next best scoring option is senior forward Anthony Mason Jr. You may have heard this name before, his father Anthony Mason Sr. was a long time NBA player. Anthony Mason stands at 6'7 209, so he is not nearly the same post player as his father once was. Mason Jr. is actually a pretty good 3 point shooter and is not the rebounder his father was. Mason has had a pretty productive career for St John's and he is averaging 15 points a game this year. My guess is that Rakim Sanders will be matched up against Mason. Their top big man is 6-8 forward Justin Burrell, who is averaging 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore. It is interesting to note that Burrell has 0 offensive rebounds to date. I'm not sure what to make of this other than the fact that St John's probably does not crash the boards much. Burrell is a scrappy player, but he is limited in his offensive role and he does not shoot much. Trapani should be able to spread the floor against him and take advantage of his perimeter game to exploit Justin Burrell's weakness. Malik Boothe will start at point guard for the Red Storm. Boothe, a sophomore, is averaging 10 points and 7 assists per game. Boothe is not a very good shooter, but he is quick and delivers the ball to his teammates. Against Cornell he had 9 assists and only 1 turnover. At this pint in his young career he is not a huge threat offensively. Rounding out the starting five will be sophomore forward Sean Evans. Evans is listed at 6'8 242, and is a defensive minded post player. He averages 7 points and 8.5 boards a game. Southern has a size advantage over him, and I hope he is able to exploit this.
St Johns is a young team and for the most part they play like one. They don't play with a high basketball IQ, something Skinner's teams pride themselves on. If BC can play controlled and patient they should be able to really take advantage of St John's style of play. I think BC wins this one, perhaps not as handily as last night, but in convincing fashion.
Tags: Boston College Basketball, BC Basketball, Boston College Eagles Basketball, Boston College-St Johns, Pre Season NIT
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