SUPER BOWL 2012

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs St. John’s
(Big East/SEC Challenge @ Rupp Arena)
12/1/11 Thursday 7:30PMEST/6:30PMCST (ESPN2)
UK leads the series 10-5

St. John’s Red Storm

Location: Queens, NY
Enrollment: 20,352
Arena: 5,602

Head Coach: Steve Lavin
Career Record: 166-90 (64.8%) 8 Seasons
At St. Johns: 21-12 (63.6%) 1 Season

2010-11 Record: 21-12
2010-11 Big East Record: 12-6
2010-11 Postseason Record: NCAA 0-1

2011-12 Record: 4-3

St. John’s 74 William & Mary 59
St. John’s 78 Lehigh 73
St. John’s 82 UMBC 59
Arizona 81 St. Johns 72
Texas A&M 58 St. John’s 57
St. John’s 63 St. Francis 48
Northeastern 78 St. John’s 74

St. John’s Stats

PPG-70.0
FG%-47.0%
3 PT%-27.7%
FT%-64.7%
RPG-33.4 (-4)
APG-10.6
TO’s-13.4
SPG-8.7
BPG-4.1

Probable Starting Lineup

Nurideen Lindsey G-6’3” So……………...14.4 PPG
D’Angelo Harrison G-6’3” Fr……….…….14.3 PPG
Maurice Harkness G/F-6’8” Fr……………14.1 PPG
God’sgift Achiuwa F-6’9” Jr………………11.3PPG
Sir’Dominic Pointer G/F-6’6” Fr……….….5.7 PPG

Other Key Players

Phil Greene G-6’2” Fr…………….………5.4 PPG
Malik Stith G-5’11” Jr……………………4.4 PPG

St. John’s lost 10 seniors last season plus starting freshman Dwayne Polee II who opted to transfer. So the Red Storm lost all 5 starters and it’s top 8 scorers….this resulted in the loss of 96% of the scoring, 89% of the rebounds and 94% of the assists. Importantly, Coach Lavin brought in 7 freshmen to go along 3 returning juniors and a sophomore…… but unfortunately, 3 of the freshmen were ruled academically ineligible….although one of the freshman might be eligible next semester.

This is obviously a young inexperienced team, but it would be a huge mistake to think that St. John’s doesn’t have good talent…they do! Coach Steve Lavin, who has been treated for prostate cancer, is a solid coach who has demonstrated very good recruiting skills. This is likely to be a tough year for the Red Storm, but they will get better and be a dangerous opponent.

Coach Lavin essentially uses 7 players and some of the starters are rotated. Thus far, the Red Storm have not been a good perimeter shooting team hitting only 26-94 for 27.7% and their free throw shooting has been lackluster at 64.7%. Guard Nurideen Lindsey is the leading scorer….and also leads the team in assists and TO’s. D’Angelo Harrison is the leading 3 point shooter hitting a so so 34.2%. Moe Harkness and God’sgift Achiuwa lead the Red Storm in rebounds.

You can bet that that coach Lavin will have the St. John’s team ready to play with great energy and intensity in Rupp arena.

For Kentucky, St. John’s is the final game before the Cats tangle with North Carolina. UK,6-0, is undefeated and now ranked number one in the nation after defeating Portland.
The Cats are shooting a very good 51.4% from the field and a solid 41.1% from the perimeter. Lamb leads the team hitting 12-26 3 point shots for a terrific 46.2%....also, importantly, Darius Miller who was only 1-11 before the Portland game hit 4-5 from long range against the Pilots. UK still needs to improve on it’s 68.5% FT shooting, but kudos to Lamb who is hitting 88.5% from the FT line. The Cats are averaging an impressive 8.3 steals PG. Last, but not least, give it up for Anthony Davis who already has 26 blocks!

Hopefully, UK is not looking past St. John’s for the North Carolina game….they better not….because the Red Storm will come into Rupp arena like most opponents, with their hair on fire, looking for a huge upset. However, coach Cal will do everything possible to keep UK’s mind on the game at hand. I see a UK 18 point win over St. John’s! GO CATS!