No. 4 Duke faces St. John's in familiar setting (Feb 02, 2018)
NEW YORK -- The No. 4 Duke Blue Devils will visit Madison Square Garden, their home away from home, on Saturday to play St. John's.
Duke (19-3) is making its 53rd appearance at the current Madison Square Garden and the Blue Devils are 34-18 there and 29-10 under coach Mike Krzyzewski. Their last game against St. John's at MSG was a 77-68 win on Jan. 25, 2015 -- the 1,000th career victory for Krzyzewski.
"It's a very historic place," Duke freshman forward Wendell Carter Jr. said. "A lot of great players have played there before and have had really good games there so I'm excited to step on the floor and showcase my game.
"Coach K got his 1,000th win there. It's obviously a very special place. Cameron Indoor (Stadium) is probably the most special place for Duke basketball, but there have been a lot of great plays for Duke in Madison Square Garden. We just have to continue that culture."
A victory gives Duke its 22nd straight 20-win season and the program's 53rd in history.
Duke is the only team ranked among the NCAA's top 10 in scoring (90.2; second), rebounds (43.1; second) and assists (18.9; fourth). The Blue Devils are also third nationally in rebound margin ( 10.7), seventh in field goal percentage (.509) and 11th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.54).
Marvin Bagley III leads the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring (21.5) and rebounding (11.4) and is second in the NCAA in double-doubles (17). Trevon Duval leads the ACC in assists (6.0), and Grayson Allen is third in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.54).
St. John's (10-13) has dropped 11 straight games, all against Big East teams. The Red Storm play their second of three straight against Top 10 opponents. They lost to No. 6 Xavier on Tuesday and face No. 1 Villanova on Feb. 7 in Philadelphia.
"This has been somewhat like Groundhog Day," St. John's coach Chris Mullin told the New York Post. "They understand all the good things that they're doing. ... I'm proud of the way they're playing. Just getting that W, that's what we're going to keep working towards.
"They know they're right there. There's no disputing that. It's not up for debate."
Shamorie Ponds joined elite company on Tuesday as the sophomore guard became the 10th player in St. John's history to enter the 1,000-point club in his second year. The Brooklyn native reached the milestone with a layup with 11:22 left in the second half and finished with 31 points.
After starting the season 10-2, short-handed St. John's has dropped eight of its 11 conference games by seven points or fewer. The Red Storm have been playing without preseason All-Big East selection Marcus LoVett, who is sidelined for the remainder of the season because of injury.
Ponds makes up half of one of the nation's most tenacious defensive backcourts. He and Justin Simon combine for more steals than any other duo in the nation. At 2.52 and 2.5 steals per game, Simon and Ponds rank ninth and 10th in the NCAA, respectively, in that category.
St. John's is No. 3 nationally in turnover margin at plus-6.1, trailing only Portland State (plus-7.7) and West Virginia ( 6.8). The Red Storm also rank seventh in the nation in steals per game (9.1).
