St. John's @ Xavier preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 28, 2019 ) Xavier 84, St. John's 73

Xavier and St. John's will try to rise above the muddle in the middle of the Big East standings with the teams meet Saturday at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati in their final regular-season game. The Musketeers and Red Storm are among a five-way tie for third and could finish as high as third or as low as tied for eighth depending on the outcome of their matchup.

The teams met last week and Xavier won 84-73 behind a sterling performance from Naji Marshall. That game came at the end of the resurgent Musketeers' five-game winning streak that was halted earlier this week with a 71-66 loss at Butler. Xavier has owned the recent series with St. John's, winning the last eight meetings. But St. John's is squarely in the mix for an NCAA Tournament bid with a better overall record and a win would strengthen its postseason resume.

TV: 5 p.m. ET, FOX

ABOUT ST. JOHN'S (20-10, 8-9 Big East): Most NCAA brackets expect St. John's to be a lock for the 68-team field regardless of their regular-season and Big East tournament finish, but the Red Storm would like to regain some momentum and improve their seeding for the conference tournament next week in Madison Square Garden. In last week's loss to Xavier, the difference was at the foul line, where the Musketeers made 25 free throws to the Red Storm's four. St. John's, whose leading scorer is Shamorie Ponds at 19.8 points per game, also took a beating on the boards, giving up 14 Xavier offensive rebounds that led to 22 second-chance points.

ABOUT XAVIER (16-14, 8-9): In last week's Xavier-St. John's matchup, Marshall led the way with a personal-best 31 points and tied a career high with five 3-pointers while adding six rebounds and three steals. The sophomore is the Musketeers leading scorer at 14.9 points per game, followed by Paul Scruggs (11.9), Quentin Goodwin (11.6), Tyrique Jones (11.4) and Zach Hankins (10.0). Jones leads Xavier in rebounding and is third in the Big East (7.8 per game), and Hankins' 46 blocked shots are 20 more anyone else on the team, and his 1.5 blocks per game rank second in the Big East.

TIP-INS

1. St. John's allowed DePaul to shoot 71.4 percent from the field in the second half of its 93-83 loss Sunday.

2. Fouls have hurt St. John's during its two-game losing streak, with a combined 54 resulting in 75 free throw attempts for its opponents.

3. Hankins, a graduate transfer, leads the Big East in field goal percentage at 67.5.

PREDICTION: St. John's 76, Xavier 73