Home US SportsNCAAB Game thread: St. John’s men’s basketball at Seton Hall

Game thread: St. John’s men’s basketball at Seton Hall

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Welcome to the thread for Friday’s St. John’s men’s basketball game against Seton Hall. Please be respectful in the comment section and do not share any illegal streams of the game.

You can follow updates of this game on Rumble in the Garden’s official X account (formerly Twitter) at @rumbleSBN or on Rumble in the Garden’s new Bluesky account at rumbleinthegarden.bsky.social. Make sure to check out our game recap and analysis after the game.

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Game information

Who: No. 18 St. John’s Red Storm (24-6, 17-2 Big East) at Seton Hall Pirates (20-10, 10-9 Big East)

When: Friday, March 6, 2026, 9:00 p.m.

Where: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey

TV: FS1

Radio: ESPN New York 880 / 1050

Series History: St. John’s leads the all-time series, 66-50. The Red Storm have won the last four meetings, including their latest matchup on January 20, in which they came back from a 15-point second-half deficit.

KenPom Predicted Score: St. John’s to win, 69-66 (60% chance of St. John’s win)

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Injury news

There are no injury news for Friday’s game.

What to watch for

Title Time: With a win on Friday night, St. John’s can clinch at least a share of the Big East regular season title and the 1-seed in the Big East Tournament for the second straight season, a feat they haven’t accomplished since 1985-1986.

If St. John’s wins on Friday and UConn loses to Marquette on Saturday, the Red Storm would secure back-to-back outright Big East regular-season titles for the first time in program history.

However, Seton Hall would be more than happy to spoil the celebration for St. John’s, as they are in desperate need to remain in at-large contention for the NCAA Tournament with a victory of their own.

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Get Back on the Ship: Dillon Mitchell has been missing offensively over the last seven games, scoring just 3.6 points on 29.7% shooting. However, the 6-foot-8 senior put up one of his best showings this season in the Red Storm’s first meeting with Seton Hall, logging a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double in a 65-60 win. Could facing the Pirates again get Mitchell back in rhythm for the Big East Tournament?

The Jo’ Show: When asked about his 15-point performance following St. John’s’ 72-69 comeback win over Georgetown, Joson Sanon simply said: “I never hesitate, my shot is cold-blooded.”

The Johnnies are going to need that unflappable confidence against a testy Seton Hall defense, and it would be a major boon for them if Sanon discovered the red-hot scoring touch that he displayed at points last season at Arizona State. St. John’s has a record of 12-1 in games in which Sanon shoots 40% or better from the field.

This Budd’s for You: Seton Hall leading scorer Adam “Budd” Clark is in line to receive All-Big East honors at the end of the season. A diminutive inside-the-arc scorer who plays similarly to former Johnny Posh Alexander, Clark averages 12.3 points on 44.3% shooting, 4.8 assists, and is a defensive menace with 2.0 steals per game. However, he was shut down in his first meeting with the Red Storm, scoring three points (all at the free throw line) and shooting 0-of-7. Since that game, Clark is averaging 16.3 points, 5.1 assists, and 2.1 steals on 48.3% shooting.

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Payne Train: The Pirates put the Johnnies in an early hole in their first meeting largely because of their dominance on the boards. Stephon Payne was all over the glass by logging 15 rebounds, eight of which came off Seton Hall misses. If the Red Storm want to control play in a game that could likely turn into a rock fight, their frontcourt players need to outplay Payne in the post.

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