Red-hot Red Storm will put 'Nova to the test

To say that the New York Knicks traded for Carmelo Anthony this week because they wanted to take the attention of the Big Apple's sports fans away from St. John's might be a stretch.

But it is accurate to say that the Red Storm's resurgence - they are ranked No. 23 in the nation going into Saturday's game against 15th-ranked Villanova at the Wells Fargo Center - has energized a fan base that hasn't had much to cheer about in nearly a decade.

Winners of five consecutive games and eight of nine, St. John's (18-9, 10-5 Big East) has defeated five teams ranked in the top 13 or higher at the time it played them, all at home. Two of them were then-No. 3 Duke and Pittsburgh, which was ranked fourth when the Red Storm posted a 60-59 win on Dwight Hardy's layup with 1.2 seconds to play last Saturday.

St. John's is a lock to get to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002. However, first-year coach Steve Lavin believes that the Red Storm have a lot more to accomplish.

"I think our players can already feel proud of the run that they have had to position St. John's for the opportunity to do something special in the postseason," Lavin said this week. "But no one is satisfied with where we are. It's a very hungry and determined group that we're working with on a daily basis."

The nucleus of that group is made up of 10 seniors who had seen their team post average or mediocre seasons before this one. After a shaky start in which they lost back-to-back games against St. Bonaventure and Fordham, the Red Storm recovered and have grown in confidence.

A significant amount of the credit goes to Lavin, the former UCLA coach and ESPN commentator who has found a way to relate to older players he didn't know before his hiring, and who might have been beaten down with the lack of success.

"The players and Steve probably took some time to get to know each other early in the season," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "They were a little disjointed, but I think you could make a strong argument that, at this point in the season, they're as together and functioning as a unit as well as anybody in the country.

"Steve has had patience with those guys. I think he's really good at handling people and obviously a very good coach. And I think those seniors, you've got to give them credit for accepting a new coach and buying in because of the way they're playing right now. You can see they really bought in."

The players appreciate Lavin's calm on the bench, especially in pressure situations such as the one against Pitt last week.

"He's the calmest out of everybody, just sitting there smiling and telling us we're going to win the game and to stick with it," Hardy told reporters after the game. "He's a wonderful coach. He relates to us because he's like a kid."

Lavin also has changed his wardrobe. St. John's won on the day he wore sneakers in support of Coaches vs. Cancer, and he has remained in sneakers and gone without a tie in games. The Red Storm are 6-1 when Lavin wears that outfit.

Even though they have defeated St. John's six consecutive times, the Wildcats (21-7, 9-6) should have their hands full on Saturday. Hardy, the winner of back-to-back player-of-the-week awards in the conference, is averaging 25.2 points in his last six games. The Red Storm force an average of more than 16 turnovers per game, second among Big East teams.