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Preview: Monmouth at St. John’s
St. John’s looks for its third straight win when the Red Storm host Monmouth on Friday. The Red Storm are led by D’Angelo Harrison, who averages 21.3 points per game. While Harrison is shooting 96 percent from the foul line, his 39.6 field-goal percentage and 11.1 percent clip from 3-point range have disappointed.
JaKarr Sampson pitches in 15 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds for St. John’s. The Hawks, who have lost two straight and most recently 86-82 to Seton Hall on Monday, are paced by Deon Jones’ 21 points per game. Jones shoots 58.3 percent from 3-point range and also leads Monmouth with eight rebounds per game.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1
ABOUT MONMOUTH (1-2): Andrew Nicholas adds 14.3 points per game for the Hawks while Justin Robertson contributes 10 points and 4.7 assists. Josh James is the fourth Monmouth player averaging double digits with 10.3 points per game. The Hawks rank 308th of 345 Division I teams in field-goal percentage at 39.2 percent.
ABOUT ST. JOHN’S (2-1): Phil Greene IV has been arguably the most efficient scorer for the Red Storm, averaging 8.7 points on 52.6 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent shooting from long range. Chris Obekpa’s four blocks per game are tied for 14th in the country despite him only playing 20 minutes per contest. No St. John’s player averages more than 2.3 assists per game.
TIP-INS
1. St. John’s is 2-0 all-time in the head-to-head series, though the teams haven’t played since the start of the 1990-91 season.
2. Tyrone O’Garro pitches in 7.7 rebounds per game for Monmouth, which ranks 65th in the nation with 41.7 boards per game.
3. Harrison has made 24-of-25 free throws this season.
PREDICTION: St. John’s 71, Monmouth 64
