St. John's basketball schedule at Players Era Festival in Las Vegas gets finalized

There will be no easy challenge for the St. John’s basketball team in its non-conference schedule and its week in Las Vegas will be no different.

The Players Era Festival has finalized its schedule for an expanded 18-team tournament in late November that has completely changed the format of multi-team events that were so popular in the sport.

As previously announced, the Red Storm will be playing against a pair of foes from the Big 12 Conference beginning on Monday, November 24 with its bout against Iowa State and a rematch from last year’s Baha Mar Tournament against Baylor on Tuesday, November 25.

Both games will start at 4:30p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. PST) and be played in the Michelob Ultra Arena, the current home of the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA.

Other games in the event will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The championship (9:30 p.m. ET) and 3rd place games (6:00 p.m. ET) will also be at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Wednesday, November 26 while all other consolations games will be spread between Wednesday and Thursday at the two venues.

All championship and consolation games will be determined by the team’s record during the first two games of the event as well as other tie breakers, if needed.

St. John’s trip to Las Vegas will mark its third straight high-profile early season tournament under Rick Pitino after playing in the Charleston Classic during his inaugural season and three games in the Bahamas last year.

The Johnnies will look for revenge against Baylor after the Bears stunned the Red Storm with a double overtime buzzer beating 3-pointer in its opening game at Baha Mar. However, each team’s roster will look vastly different with a majority of the players moving on.

Prior to arriving in Vegas, St. John’s will get be tested in its second game of the season against Alabama, who is also participating in the Player Era Festival, on November 8 in Madison Square Garden.