The St. John's University men's basketball team opens its 2005-06 schedule when the Red Storm plays host to the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore on Saturday, Nov. 19 at Carnesecca Arena. The second year of the Norm Roberts Era at St. John's features 18 home games - including eight at Carnesecca and 10 at Madison Square Garden - and is marked by several marquee non-conference matchups before play begins in the newly-expanded BIG EAST.

"Our schedule allows us to play our traditional local rivals, as well as some national powers, before we get into the conference schedule," said Roberts. "We travel to Duke and Virginia Tech, play a full slate at the Garden and play in the Holiday Festival. This will give St. John's fans a great opportunity to follow our team, which features a lot of new faces this year."

The Red Storm, which returns eight letterwinners and all five starters from Roberts' first season at the helm - including the BIG EAST's top returning scorer Daryll Hill (20.7 points per game) and big man Lamont Hamilton (13.3 ppg, 7.5 rebounds per game) - will tune up with an exhibition contest against its head coach's alma mater, Queens College, on Monday, Nov. 14. at Carnesecca Arena.

The Red Storm opens the regular-season slate with six consecutive home games at Carnesecca, including matchups with Maryland-Eastern Shore (Nov. 19), St. Francis, N.Y. (Nov. 22), Niagara (Nov. 26), Hofstra (Nov. 29), Charleston Southern (Dec. 3) and Stony Brook (Dec. 7).

St. John's hits the road on Saturday, Dec. 10, and visits Blacksburg, VA, to take on former BIG EAST opponent Virginia Tech. The Red Storm clashes with the Hokies at Cassell Coliseum in the first away contest of the season.

The Red Storm makes its New York return and plays host to the Marist Red Foxes in the season debut at Madison Square Garden - The World's Most Famous Arena - on Saturday, Dec. 17. In the final contest before the Christmas holiday, the Red Storm travels to Duke's storied Cameron Indoor Stadium on Dec. 21 for a nationally televised matchup on ESPN2.

St. John's defends its 2004 title when it opens the Panasonic Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden by facing Columbia on Tuesday, Dec. 27. A second round matchup with Massachusetts or St. Peter's awaits on Wednesday, Dec. 28.

The challenges of the new BIG EAST begin on the road. The Red Storm takes on local conference rival Seton Hall at Continental Airlines Arena just after the New Year, on Wednesday, Jan. 4, before returning home and playing host to Georgetown at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Jan. 8.

The following weekend, St. John's heads to the Sunshine State for a meeting with new BIG EAST opponent South Florida. The Storm breezes into USF's Sun Dome on Saturday, Jan. 14.

The Red Storm returns to New York next, opening a two-game homestand by taking on new BIG EAST opponent and 2005 Final Four participant Louisville. Former New York Knicks head coach Rick Pitino makes his return to the Garden on Tuesday, Jan. 17. The Pittsburgh Panthers, who Roberts and the Red Storm upset in 2005, visit MSG on Saturday, Jan. 21.

St. John's lone matchup of the season with Connecticut will be played on the road on Wednesday, Jan. 25, before the Red Storm returns home to meet 2005 Elite Eight participant West Virginia at the Garden on Jan. 29. The squad then plays three-straight road conference games: at new league foe Marquette on Feb. 1, at Providence on Feb. 4 and a nationally-televised tilt on ESPN2 at Georgetown's MCI Center on Feb. 9.

St. John's faces Syracuse once in 2005-06, as the Storm plays host to the Orange on Sunday, Feb. 12, at the Garden. The squad takes a short trip to "The RAC" to face Rutgers on Wednesday, Feb. 15.

The Red Storm's final pair of regular-season contests at the Garden are against new conference opponent DePaul on Saturday, Feb. 18, and Seton Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 21, respectively.

The Red Storm takes on 2005 Sweet Sixteen squad Villanova on the road on Wednesday, March 1, before playing host to Rutgers on "Senior Day" at Carnesecca Arena on Sunday, March 5.

In all, St. John's will play 12 regular season games against teams that participated in postseason tournaments in 2004-05 (NCAA - Louisville, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Villanova, Duke, Connecticut, Syracuse; NIT - Georgetown, Marquette, Virginia Tech, DePaul).

For ticket information, schedules, scores and highlights to all St. John's home games visit us on the Internet at www.redstormsports.com. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling the St. John's Ticket Office at 718-990-6081.

All game times and radio/television broadcast information will be announced at a later date.

2005-06 ST. JOHN'S MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

DAY     DATE           OPPONENT                 LOCATION

Mon.    Nov. 14        QUEENS COLLEGE (exh)     Queens, NY (Carnesecca Arena)

Sat.    Nov. 19        MARYLAND-EASTERN SHORE   Queens, NY (Carnesecca Arena)

Tue.    Nov. 22        ST. FRANCIS (NY)         Queens, NY (Carnesecca Arena)

Sat.    Nov. 26        NIAGARA                  Queens, NY (Carnesecca Arena)

Tue.    Nov. 29        HOFSTRA                  Queens, NY (Carnesecca Arena)

Sat.    Dec. 3         CHARLESTON SOUTHERN      Queens, NY (Carnesecca Arena)

Wed.    Dec. 7         STONY BROOK              Queens, NY (Carnesecca Arena)

Sat.    Dec. 10        at Virginia Tech         Blacksburg, VA (Cassell Coliseum)

Sat.    Dec. 17        MARIST                   New York, NY (Madison Square Garden)

Wed.    Dec. 21        at Duke                  Durham, NC (Cameron Indoor Stadium)

Panasonic Holiday Festival

Tue.    Dec. 27        COLUMBIA                 New York, NY (Madison Square Garden)

Wed.    Dec. 28        UMASS/ST. PETERS         New York, NY (Madison Square Garden)

Wed.    Jan. 4       • at Seton Hall            East Rutherford, NJ (Continental Airlines Arena)

Sun.    Jan. 8       • GEORGETOWN               New York, NY (Madison Square Garden)  

Sat.    Jan. 14      • at South Florida         Tampa, FL (Sun Dome)

Tue.    Jan. 17      • LOUISVILLE               New York, NY (Madison Square Garden)

Sat.    Jan. 21      • PITTSBURGH               New York, NY (Madison Square Garden)  

Wed.    Jan. 25      • at Connecticut           Storrs, CT (Gampel Pavilion)

Sun.    Jan. 29      • WEST VIRGINIA            New York, NY (Madison Square Garden)  

Wed.    Feb. 1       • at Marquette             Milwaukee, WI (Bradley Center)

Sat.    Feb. 4       • at Providence            Providence, RI (Dunkin' Donuts Center)

Thu.    Feb. 9       • at Georgetown            Washington, DC (MCI Center)

Sun.    Feb. 12      • SYRACUSE                 New York, NY (Madison Square Garden)  

Wed.    Feb. 15      • at Rutgers               New Brunswick, NJ (Louis Brown Athletic Center)

Sat.    Feb. 18      • DePAUL                   New York, NY (Madison Square Garden)

Tue.    Feb. 21      • SETON HALL               New York, NY (Madison Square Garden)  

Wed.    March 1      • at Villanova             Villanova, PA (The Pavilion)

Sun.    March 5      • RUTGERS                  Queens, NY (Carnesecca Arena) 

Wed.-Sat.    March 8-11  at BIG EAST Tournament   New York, NY (Madison Square Garden)

 • Denotes BIG EAST contests

All times Eastern

Check out more 2005-06 Team Schedules.