NCAA tournament: St. John’s vs. San Diego State preview

Steve Lavin brought the Red Storm back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011. This team has a magnificent seven deep highlighted by four rock solid guards, a ‘tweener and a rim protector. Now with starting center Chris Obekpa suspended, the Red Storm are small and depleted.

Lavin will lean on senior Sir’Dominic Pointer at 6-foot-5-inches to play big, protect the rim and clean the glass. Pointer’s nightly contributions dwarf the 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, 3 assists and nearly 2 steals he puts on the stat sheet, he’s the pulse of the team.

GuardsD’Angelo Harrison and Rysheed Jordan provide a lethal 1-2 scoring punch. Look for the Red Storm to strike quickly on the offensive end before the Aztecs and their formidable defense set up.

Their opponent are fourth in the nation in defensive efficiency. Scoring in the half court against them is extremely difficult with their length and size.

The Red Storm is looking for their first NCAA Tournament victory since 2000. A win would likely set them up with a rematch against Duke, a team they nearly upset in January.