The Matchup: No. 20 Wisconsin vs. St. John's Red Storm
When: Friday, Nov. 8 at 6pm CT
Where: Sioux Falls, S.D. – The Pentagon
TV: BTN
Radio: Matt Lepay & Andy North – Yes, that Andy North…Could be worth hitting mute and turning up the radio
All-Time Series: 3-0 Wisconsin
Last Meeting: 2002 NCAA Tournament, Wisconsin W 80-70
The Opposition:
St. John's may not be ranked to open the season, but it isn't full of slouches either. It had four players make preseason All-Big East honors, with junior guard D'Angelo Harrison (17.8ppg, 4.3rpg, 2.3apg in 2012-13) being named to the preseason first team. Harrison will team with incoming freshman, Rysheed Jordan, who was named the Big East preseason Freshman of the Year.
He won't be the only one with that honor on the court, as sophomore JaKarr Sampson (14.9ppg, 6.6rpg, 36 blocks) last season), earned the conference's postseason Freshman of of the Year award. Teaming up with Sampson in the frontcourt is Chris Obekpa, who had a ridiculous 113 blocks last season and was named preseason Honorable Mention All-Big East this year.
Obekpa is coming off a two-game suspension for violation of university policy.
6-5 swingman, Sir'Dominic Pointer, is someone to keep an eye on after a solid freshman season last year (6.9ppg, 5.5rpg, 2.8apg). He lit up the stat sheet in the Red Storm's preseason win over Humbolt State, nearly going for a triple double with 14 points, 10 rebounds, nine blocks and five assists.
This team pulled in a great recruiting class last year and after a year of experience for this group, this team is still young. 13 of the teams' 17 players are underclassmen.
Keys to the Game
Both teams are more guard orientated, but St. John's is a bit more athletic at the position. Wisconsin will need to use it's veteran guards to slow the game down a bit and force turnovers, something St. John's was good at last year. The Red Storm forced 78 more turnovers than they committed last season. However, we all know that the Badgers place a premium on not turning the ball over themselves and with St. John's committing 11.3 turnovers a game last year it could be the Badgers' biggest advantage in this game.
Wisconsin also can't afford to not shoot the ball well from the outside in this matchup, as they need to extend the long frontcourt that St. John's has. It's the biggest advantage the opposition has and if you can extend them out and create more space for the guards to work it will be to UW's advantage.
Prediction: Wisconsin 70, St. John's 64
This is a very tough challenge for the Badgers to open the season and it's guard rotation as well as Frank Kaminsky's ability to hold up up front will be the biggest challenges. I expect Sam Dekker to be the difference maker and put this team on his back when/if the Badgers go into a bit of a lull. Look for him to be the leading scorer with around 20-24 points, as the Badgers win a close one, playing just a bit more uptempo than some fans are used to under Bo Ryan.
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