Xavier @ St. John's preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 5, 2020 ) St. John's 67, Xavier 75

Xavier has crawled back into the discussion for an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament and hopes to boost its resume with a Big East road victory Monday at St. John's, which has lost 10 straight in the series. The Musketeers saw their three-game winning streak come to an end with a 66-61 setback at No. 20 Butler on Wednesday, losing out on a chance to even their conference record for the first time since they were 1-1.

Head coach Travis Steele watched his team commit just nine turnovers, play even on the boards and close strong, but he was left to lament some early miscues that gave the Bulldogs the edge they would need at home. "Whether it was just dropping passes or a horrible decision on our part," he told reporters. "We gotta be better, that's it. The margin for error in this league is razor-thin." The Red Storm picked up an 80-69 win over Providence on Wednesday in their first game since losing senior leader Mustapha Heron to an ankle injury. Junior guard LJ Figueroa had 19 points and four steals as St. John's ended a three-game slide.

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

ABOUT XAVIER (16-9, 5-7 Big East): Junior forward Naji Marshall bounced back from a season-low five-point effort in a win over Providence on Feb. 8 to score 20 points at Butler, boosting his team-leading average to 16.2. He also tied a career high with seven assists and leads the Musketeers in that category with 3.7 per game. Senior forward Tyrique Jones notched his seventh straight double-double in the loss by recording 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds.

ABOUT ST. JOHN'S (14-11, 3-9): Heron also missed time earlier in the season and coach Mike Anderson thinks his team was more prepared to play without its leader this time around. "I thought we responded well," he told the media Wednesday. "Even earlier in the year when Mustapha got hurt, guys had an opportunity to play. And I thought those guys played really well. I thought they were even more engaged and more ready to play. A lot of guys stepped up." Freshman guard Julian Champagnie scored 14 points in the win and he is averaging 12.3 - 3.5 over his mark for the season - and 8.3 rebounds over his last three games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Red Storm's last victory in the series was a one-point triumph Feb. 23, 2015 at Madison Square Garden.

2. St. John's sophomore F Marcellus Earlington is averaging 18.5 points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes over his last two games.

3. Marshall scored 20 and Jones had 12 points and 12 rebounds in a 75-67 win over St. John's earlier this season.

PREDICTION: Xavier 73, St. John's 70