St. John’s (6-0) is off to their best start since the 1994-95 season. The matchup against Duke (6-1) on Saturday features two of the winningest programs in college basketball history with Duke fourth (1,883) and St. John’s seventh (1,692). The two teams have played 18 times with Duke leading the series 13 – 5. In their last meeting, on February 19, 2009, Duke prevailed 76 – 69, at Madison Square Garden.

The Red Storm brings experience onto the court starting five juniors. Wing D.J. Kennedy (6’5” 215) is the Red Storm’s leading scorer at 17.7 points per game. Kennedy can play inside and outside. He has knocked down 43.5 percent of his 3-point attempts this season and 77.3 percent of his free throw attempts including going 9-9 from the charity stripe in a win over Temple on November 28th. Kennedy has scored in double figures in all six of St. John’s games. Against Duke last season, Kennedy played 39 minutes and scored 20 points with nine rebounds.

St. John’s floor leader is Malik Boothe (5’9” 188). Boothe averages only 4.8 points per game but is an 82.4 percent free throw shooter and made two key free throws in a late game situation against St. Bonaventure. He has a 1.8:1 assists to turnover ratio. Against Duke last season, Boothe played 37 minutes and scored 10 points, but he turned the ball over six times.

The frontcourt players in St. John’s starting line-up are Sean Evans (6’8” 255) and Justin Burrell (6’8” 235). Evans is averaging 8.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, while Burrell is contributing 5.3 points and 3.7 rebounds. Against Duke last season, Evans played 31 minutes scoring 15 points with five rebounds, and Burrell added one point and one rebound in 13 minutes.

Guard Paris Horne (6’3” 191) is the fifth starter. Horne is averaging 7.3 points per game this season. He has twice as many turnovers (10) as assists (5) through six games. Against Duke last season, Horne was in foul trouble playing 20 minutes and scoring seven points.

The keys to the game will be:

1. The Blue Devils must execute on offense and not settle for the dribble-drive. Running their motion offense to achieve open looks at the basket, setting ball screens, going high-low, and converting offensive rebounds into points are all important aspects of the multi-dimensional offense Duke must run to be successful.

2. On defense, Duke must force St. John’s to make mistakes. On the season, the Red Storm has averaged more turnovers (13.8) than assists (12.2) per game. Duke must exploit this weakness, while ensuring they do not allow the Red Storm to score in transition.

3. Duke must control the glass and out rebound St. John’s. Duke cannot allow St. John’s frontcourt to score second chance points. St. John’s plays several 6’7” – 6’8” physical athletes who will attempt to score off of missed shots. Duke must limit second chance points.

St. John’s is a deep team with nine players averaging double digit minutes per game. Dwight Hardy (6’2” 187) and Justin Brownlee (6’7” 232) are two key players off the bench for the Red Storm. Hardy is the team’s second leading scorer at 10.7 per game, while Brownlee is contributing 8.3 points per game.

This will be another tough game for the Blue Devils who are coming off their first loss of the season at Wisconsin. The final outcome of the game should be decided over the final three minutes. St. John’s is a program that is working hard to restore its program back into the upper echelon of college basketball after some tough times the past few years. Duke has won 72 consecutive non-conference games at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke’s last loss was to St. John’s, 83 – 82, on February 26, 2000. The Red Storm would love to break Duke’s winning streak once again.