NEW YORK -- St. John's is looking to get to .500 in the Big East Conference when it hosts No. 24 Xavier Sunday at Madison Square Garden. Xavier (14-6, 4-3 Big East) has won the last three meetings.
The Red Storm (10-12, 4-5) is off to its best record at the midway point of conference play since the 2012-13 season. Coach Chris Mullin's squad recorded an impressive 91-86 win at Providence on Jan. 25 in which freshman Marcus LoVett scored a game-high 26 points on 10 of 15 shooting, while fellow frosh Shamorie Ponds added 22 points, highlighted by a 4-for-5 effort from long distance.