March 18, 2019
For the first time under the direction of Head Coach Chris Mullin, the St. John's men's basketball team is heading to The Big Dance.
Following a regular season that saw the Johnnies record 21 victories, the team heard its name called during the final region revealed during Sunday night's Selection Show. The Red Storm's NCAA Tournament journey will begin on Wednesday night in Dayton, Ohio, as the Johnnies will square off with Arizona State. The game will air on truTV.
The winner of that game will earn the right to play the no. 6 seed in the West Region, Buffalo, on Friday in Tulsa, Okla.
St. John's will make its 29th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance, a total that is tied for 23rd in the history of Division I. The Red Storm last made the Tournament in 2015 and last won an NCAA game in 2000.
The Johnnies have advanced to the Sweet 16 nine times and made six appearances in the Elite Eight. The last of St. John's two Final Four berths came in 1985, when the team was led by National Player of the Year Chris Mullin.
This season, the Red Storm has matched its highest win total since 1999-2000 by emerging victorious in 21 games. The Johnnies, who started the campaign with 12 consecutive wins, entered Selection Sunday with five Quad One victories on its resume, including a neutral site triumph over VCU and three wins in four regular season attempts against Marquette and Villanova .
The Johnnies, one of just two teams in the BIG EAST to feature five players averaging double figures, are led by two-time First Team All-BIG EAST selection Shamorie Ponds. Ponds, one of just five players in program history to earn multiple First Team All-BIG EAST honors, ranks third in the BIG EAST in scoring while placing second in assists (5.2 per game) and first in steals (2.6 per game). He also leads the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.6-to-1.