First Dogfight of the New Year: Providence Comes to the Garden With a Match and a Fuse

By Jason Safford | Relentless Redstorm

Midday light hits Madison Square Garden like a warning bell.
January feels new, but Big East games never feel safe.
Providence walks in with quick hands and quick shots.
St. John’s stands there like a locked door with teeth.

This game starts the next two months of dogfights.
No one floats through this stretch.
Each team throws elbows with a smile.
Every night asks one question: who breaks first.

Rick Pitino loves these rooms.
He also knows Providence better than most.
Coached there from 1985 to 1987, and he took them far.
Now he tries to turn that old knowledge into tonight’s edge.

St. John’s comes in hot after a road win at Georgetown.
The Red Storm also brings a simple plan: speed, pressure, paint.
They chase turnovers like loose cash on the sidewalk.
Turn chaos into points before you can blink.

The numbers tell you why this turns into a street fight fast.
St. John’s forces about 15.3 opponent turnovers per game.
They also push those steals into roughly 1.3 points per transition trip.
That is not style, that is a weapon.

Providence does not show up to play slow.
The Friars score in bunches and move the ball.
They average 16.8 assists per game and 7.2 steals per game.
But also turn it over about 11.5 times per game, and that can sting.

Saturday’s tip comes at noon Eastern at the Garden.
That early start adds a weird bite.
Legs can feel heavy before the mind wakes up.
One lazy pass can light the whole building on fire.

Here is the first coaching question that matters.
How long does Pitino press.
Does he go full heat early and try to drown them.
Or does he hold the match, then strike in waves.

Providence will try to break pressure with speed.
St. John’s will try to trap the first dribble.
Both plans want the same thing: panic.
Only one side gets to own it.

St. John’s pressure starts with guards who hunt.
Dylan Darling digs at the ball, then runs.
Ian Jackson pushes tempo and attacks space.
Dillon Mitchell turns defense into a sprint drill.

Zuby Ejiofor sits at the center of the storm.
He rebounds, outlets, and makes the next pass clean.
And he makes fast breaks feel planned.
That calm matters when the game turns loud.

Providence brings scorers who do not blink.
Jason Edwards pours in points and shoots threes with confidence.
Jaylin Sellers attacks closeouts and finishes through contact.
Stefan Vaaks runs the offense and finds gaps quickly.

So the dogfight sits right there in plain sight.
St. John’s wants live ball turnovers and runway points.
Providence wants clean catches, one more pass, and a quick three.
Both teams want the crowd to gasp at the same time.

Now comes the second coaching question that decides runs.
Who wins the glass.
St. John’s crashes for extra shots and lives on second chances.
Providence rebounds well, but they still allow too many points overall.

One extra rebound feels small.
Two extra rebounds feel like a shove.
Three extra rebounds feel like a five point swing.
That is how the Garden turns from noise into pressure.

Pitino will point at the floor and demand angles.
He will demand spacing on offense and denial on defense.
His teams rarely play “nice” when they smell fear.
They play sharp, and they play together.

Providence will try to answer with shotmaking.
They shoot well from the field in their season totals.
And hit threes at strong clips from key guards.
One hot stretch can flip the score in two minutes.

That creates the anxiety that makes this game worth your time.
St. John’s can lead by eight and still feel unsafe.
Providence can trail by ten and still feel dangerous.
Momentum in this league changes like a siren.

Look at the recent history and you feel it more.
These teams do not hand out easy wins.
Many of their recent meetings land inside one or two possessions.
That kind of pattern does not happen by accident.

So what should you watch on the first two trips.
Watch Providence’s first press break.
Watch St. John’s first trap near midcourt.
Look for who hits the floor for a loose ball first.

Next, watch the first five shots for St. John’s.
Do they get paint touches and free throws.
Or settle for quick threes with no rebound plan.
Those choices tell you if discipline wins the opening round.

Then, watch Providence’s decision makers after contact.
Do they keep their dribble alive under pressure.
Or throw soft passes into traffic.
St. John’s lives for that moment.

Finally, watch the end of each half.
That is where Pitino steals games.
Where Providence has to stay tough and calm.
This is where a dogfight turns into a bite.

This matchup also sets the tone for everything coming next.
The next two months bring one hard game after another.
This league will test legs, minds, and trust.
St. John’s cannot win March without winning January habits.

Providence arrives with nothing to lose.
St. John’s carries a target on its chest.
Targets do not win games, work does.
Work starts at noon, under lights, in the Garden.

When the ball goes up, the new year stops feeling new.
The game turns into a sprint inside a fist fight.
You will feel every run in your stomach.
And want the next possession like air.

#StJohns #StJohnsBasketball #SJUBB #BigEast #CollegeBasketball #RickPitino #Dogfight #TheGarden #NoEasyNights #JanuaryBasketball #PressureGame #WinThePossession #RelentlessRedstorm #BigEastBattles #PitinoEffect #NCAABasketball