Georgetown-St. John's Preview

1/29/2008 5:58 PM

By MIKE LIPKA
STATS Writer

Patrick Ewing Jr. saved the game for Georgetown in the Hoyas' last contest. If he needs any motivation in the next one, he'll need only to look to the rafters.

Ewing and the sixth-ranked Hoyas will look to notch consecutive road wins when they visit St. John's at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, also hoping to send the struggling Red Storm to their sixth straight defeat.

It was Ewing's last-second blocked shot - which some contended might have been goaltending - that propelled Georgetown (16-2, 6-1 Big East) to a 58-57 win at West Virginia on Saturday.

"In that instance you leave it up to the refs to make the call and this time fortunately it came out our way," Ewing said.

But the senior has struggled since losing his starting spot, averaging just 5.6 points in eight games coming off the bench. But perhaps he'll draw inspiration from playing in the building where his father's No. 33 is retired from 15 seasons with the New York Knicks.

Ewing Jr. averaged just 5.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in four games there last season, the first of which was a 72-48 Georgetown blowout of St. John's. As a team, the Hoyas have won four in a row and seven of eight at the Garden, including last season's Big East title.

On Saturday, the Hoyas trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half and shot just 4-of-17 from 3-point range, but Jessie Sapp's 3-pointer fell with just 6 seconds left as Georgetown won its third straight and became the first visiting team to win on West Virginia's court this season.

"Ugly or not, it's a win. Road wins have been few and far between as you look across the conference," Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. "So to come down here and in this environment and play against a terrific team that doesn't lose too many times here is a big win."

Georgetown's standout defense has often produced ugly wins this season. The Hoyas have won eight of their last nine, never allowing 70 points in a game over that span, and opponents shoot just 35.8 percent against them - the best defensive field-goal percentage in the nation.

A large reason is 7-foot-2 Roy Hibbert, who had 12 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots against West Virginia.

St. John's (7-11, 1-6), meanwhile, comes in with the second-worst shooting percentage in the Big East, shooting just 42.2 percent this season. They're making just 37.1 percent from the field during their current five-game losing streak.

The Red Storm lost 67-57 at Louisville on Saturday, shooting just 32.1 percent from the field despite 7-of-11 3-point shooting from Anthony Mason Jr., the son of another former Knick. Mason had 29 points for the second straight game, and is shooting 10-of-15 (66.7 percent) from 3-point range in the last two games.

"He's kind of stepped up on his own," St. John's coach Norm Roberts said. "However, we have to do it as a team. We have to get out of it as a team. There are no easy games, we have to battle through. We are playing one of the top teams in the country (Wednesday) night and we are going to have to play our very best."

Georgetown has won three straight and four of five against St. John's.