GAME NOTES: The St. John's Red Storm have traveled to Morgantown for a Big East Conference clash with the West Virginia Mountaineers. Not much has gone right for St. John's lately, as the team has lost two straight decisions and four of its last five to fall to 7-8 overall. The Red Storm is coming off a 60-54 setback to DePaul, and the 54 points marked their third-lowest offensive output of the season. They are just 1-3 in true road games and are clearly underdogs this evening. As for West Virginia, it has won two of its last three games to move to 12-4 overall, and the club is a perfect 8-0 at home. The Mountaineers are coming off Sunday's 81-61 romp over Syracuse that enabled them to even their league record at 2-2. West Virginia owns a 16-15 lead in the all-time series with St. John's, and the Mountaineers have won the last seven matchups.

St. John's is not an explosive offensive team by any means, as it is averaging a modest 67.0 ppg on 42.7 percent shooting from the floor. Fortunately, the club has been able to limit its opponents to 65.3 ppg, the main reason that the Red Storm have been able to record seven victories this season. Justin Burrell leads three double-digit scorers for St. John's in double figures, as he is netting 12.8 ppg to go along with 7.7 rpg. Anthony Mason Jr. checks in with 11.9 ppg, and Larry Wright is contributing 10.0 ppg. In the six-point loss to DePaul last time out, Burrell posted 18 points and 11 rebounds. Mason Jr. added 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists, but he shot 4-of-14 from the floor. The Red Storm connected on only 33.9 percent of their field goal attempts in the contest.

Bob Huggins has stressed defense in his first season as West Virginia head coach, and his players have certainly responded. The Mountaineers are only surrendering 60.9 ppg on 39.4 percent shooting from the field, and they have forced 114 more turnovers than they have committed. Offensively, the club is netting 81.2 ppg, and four players are averaging double figures in scoring. Alex Ruoff is tops with 16.6 ppg, and he has recorded 30 steals while shooting 46.8 percent from three-point range. Joe Alexander adds 15.9 ppg to the mix, and Da'Sean Butler is contributing 12.4 ppg. As for Darris Nichols, he provides 10.9 ppg and 58 assists. WVU has featured the same starting lineup in all 16 games, a claim that few teams can make. Ruoff scored 23 points on 7- of-11 accuracy from behind the arc in the easy win over Syracuse. Nichols had 17 points and six assists for the Mountaineers, who got 13 points from both Butler and Alexander. WVU forced 19 turnovers, key to the victory.

Expect the Mountaineers to jump on top early and never look back as they cruise to victory. Expect another outstanding effort from Ruoff, one of the nation's best pure shooters.