Victories over West Virginia and Georgetown have given the Red Storm credibility among the nation’s best as they prepare for battle against the Orangemen of Syracuse at Madison Square Garden.

“Syracuse brings a lot of size and length,” said St. John’s coach Steve Lavin. “They present problems because they don’t give you good looks at the basket.”

The Red Storm, coming off a 76-61 loss at the hands of the Notre Dame will have their hands full against the undefeated Orangemen.

“We all need to play well,” said guard Dwight Hardy. “I need to be ready to knock down shots.”

Hardy leads the Red Storm in Big East play averaging 17.3 points per game. Fellow senior Justin Brownlee is a close second, scoring 15.8 points per Big East contest.

The Storm will need to play big and crash the boards in order to stay competitive. “We intend to hit the boards at the offensive end of the floor,” said Lavin.

The Orange are led in scoring by Kris Joseph. The junior forward is averaging 15.1 points per game while grabbing 5.4 rebounds per game. Junior point guard Scoop Jardine is second in scoring at 13.8 per game and has dished out 96 assists. Rick Jackson completes the 1-2-3 punch for head coach Jim Boeheim. The senior forward is averaging a double-double per game (13.2 ppg and 11.9 rpg) on a team which scores at a rate of 76.0 points per game.

The Red Storm will need their A-Game at the Garden for this match-up, but this team has been resilient all year and has found ways to win under coach Lavin.

“We’re definitely looking forward to the game – especially the seniors,” said Red Storm senior D.J. Kennedy. “We have never beaten Syracuse since we’ve been here so it’s time.”