Saint Peter's @ St. John's preview

St. John's seeks a third straight win when it continues a lengthy stay in New York City with a matchup against visiting Saint Peter's on Tuesday. The Red Storm began a five-game run at home - including one contest at Madison Square Garden - with an 86-63 win over Wagner on Saturday.

Senior guard Mustapha Heron scored 18 points in just 16 minutes before fouling out as St. John's forced 21 turnovers and utilized a big first half to improve to 5-1 at Carnesecca Arena. Heron, who leads the team in scoring with 14.8 points per game, produced a total of 11 on 3-of-13 shooting over the previous two contests and knows his team needs more production out him. "Every night is important that I perform," Heron told reporters, "or the team won't be as successful as we should be." The Peacocks, picked to finish ninth in the 11-team MAAC, won their last two games - one of which was an exhibition - after opening 0-3.

TV: 6:30 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1

ABOUT SAINT PETER'S (1-3): Freshman guard Doug Edert scored a total of eight points in the team's first two games before recording 18 in each of the last two, as well as 21 in the exhibition win over Division II Caldwell last week. He was the only Peacock in double figures in Saturday's 67-59 win over St. Francis Brooklyn. Sophomore forward KC Ndefo is averaging a team-high 6.5 rebounds and also leads the squad with eight blocked shots despite missing the first two games of the season.

ABOUT ST. JOHN'S (6-2): The Red Storm are trying to establish depth behind Heron and junior guard LJ Figueroa - both preseason second-team selections in the Big East - and they are finding several other options on the offensive end. Junior transfer Rasheem Dunn scored 14 points for the third time this season in Saturday's win while sophomore forward Josh Roberts is averaging 14 points and 8.5 rebounds over the last two games. "Coming in, we knew they were going to be the face of the team, but they're not going to be the team," coach Mike Anderson told reporters of Heron and Figueroa. "That's what we're seeing now. This is going to be the ultimate team."

TIP-INS

1. Red Storm freshman G Julian Champagnie has scored in double figures in six of eight games and ranks second on the team in rebounding with 6.9 per contest.

2. Saint Peter's is shooting 32.2 percent from the floor as a team, but 32.9 percent from 3-point range.

3. Despite being seperated by about 15 miles, the schools have not met since 1976.

PREDICTION: St. John's 80, Saint Peter's 52