The St. John’s basketball team got off easy this week after its comeback victory over Xavier on Wednesday night.
The only thing the Johnnies had to do was sit back and watch a handful of Top-25 teams lose and predict how far it would climb in the rankings on Monday afternoon.
If anyone had five spots as a prediction, they’d be correct.
St. John’s (17-3, 8-1 Big East) landed at No. 15 in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll, climbing from No. 20 a week ago. It’s the highest the program has been ranked since December 2014.
The Red Storm have not been inside the Top-10 of the poll since the final poll of the 1999-2000 season, finishing No. 9 in the final rankings. It’s possible that the Johnnies find a way to climb five more spots this week if it wins both of its games, which will not be easy.
Rick Pitino will lead his team into rematches against Georgetown (13-7, 4-5 Big East) and Providence (10-10, 4-5 Big East), each seeing a massive second half comeback by the Storm.
It was just two weeks ago that the Hoyas saw St. John’s erase a 15-point first half deficit to win by five points, 63-58, inside Madison Square Garden. Deivon Smith (shoulder) did not play against Georgetown in the first meeting between the teams and it is unlikely that he will play on Tuesday night.
The Johnnies started its story as comeback kids on a Friday night in Providence, trailing by 16 points in the first half before a ferocious second half rally was punctuated by a buzzer beating putback from Zuby Ejiofor.
Tipoff between No. 15 St. John’s (17-3, 8-1 Big East) and Georgetown is at 6:30 p.m. ET (FS1) inside Capital One Arena while the Red Storm and Friars will begin action at 12:00 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network) at The Garden.