Rivalry Preview: St. John’s vs. Gonzaga Basketball

On Friday, the No. 44 ranked St. John’s Cadets will host the No. 3 ranked Gonzaga Eagles at 7:30 PM in Gallagher Gym. The highly touted matchup will have major implications on conference play for both teams. The Cadets look to hand the Eagles their first conference loss of the season, while Gonzaga is looking to keep their six-game win streak going as they continue league play.

Game Theme

The Booster Club announced that the theme for the game will be a Red Out.

Résumés at a glance

The Cadets were previously ranked in the Top 25 on MaxPreps, but fell after losses to both Providence Day (NC) and Paul VI. St. John’s started off the season strong going 4-0 and getting a win over the No. 1 (at the time) team in the country in Brennan (Tex.). Since then, the Cadets have gone 11-5, earning wins over No. 21 DeMatha, No. 22 Highland (Va.), and No. 55 Great Crossing (Ky.). The Eagles only losses are an 85-79 triple overtime thriller against No. 1 Columbus and a 66-63 nail-biter loss to No. 2 Harvard-Westlake. Gonzaga boasts wins over No. 6 Roosevelt (Ca.), No. 43 Bishop O’Connell, No. 86 Oak Ridge (Fla.), No. 97 Chaminade (Mo.), St. Ignatius (No. 1 team in Ohio), and Owyhee (No. 1 team in Idaho.)

Roster Matchups

Both teams field star studded rosters with many Division 1 prospects. St. John’s tends to rotate their starting 5 every game, with there rarely being the same lineup week to week. Three key players for the Cadets are Omari Witherspoon ‘25, Jon Barton ‘25, and Devyn Toatley ‘26. The Cadets run a system that may seem unfamiliar to most, but it is becoming more and more common in basketball. Rather than running classic positions like Point Guard or Center, head coach Pat O’Connor has implemented a mindset of “positionless basketball” in the Cadets’ scheme in order to maximize player potential.

The Eagles concentrate their system around center Christian Gurdak ‘25, currently listed at 6’10 250 lbs. Point guard Nyk Lewis ‘25 leads the way, with combo guard Derrick Dixon ‘25 supporting as one of the league’s best shooters. Alex Touomou ‘25 and Will Harper ‘25 round out the Eagles’ starting 5. Gonzaga’s starting lineup averages at out just over 6’6.

Both teams will feature a plethora of talent, as well as having extremely deep benches.

Last 10 Matchups

Note that year means season not specific date played, so 2023 means the 2023-2024 season even if the game was played in 2024

2023 vs. Gonzaga L 58-55

2023 @ Gonzaga L 71-59

2022 vs. Gonzaga W 54-53

2022 vs. Gonzaga W 68-58

2021 vs. Gonzaga W 57-56

2021 @ Gonzaga W 60-59

2020-2021 season not played due to Covid-19

2019 @ Gonzaga W 53-49

2019 vs. Gonzaga L 86-67

2018 @ Gonzaga L 68-63

2018 vs. Gonzaga L 56-53

Overall Record: 5-5

Keys to the game for SJC

Turnovers, rebounds, momentum. St. John’s needs to keep the ball and control the game from the start. If the Cadets let the Eagles go on a run, it’ll be hard to stop them. Keeping the guys on the floor fresh throughout the game is important, but so is getting into a “groove” early. Home court advantage, home crowd, Friday night game, the pieces are in place for one of the conference’s biggest upsets of the year.

The Program Under O’Connor

St. John’s head basketball coach Pat O’Connor is now officially in his first season as the head of the program. O’Connor was the interim basketball coach for the 2023-2024 season while Pat Behan battled with ALS. With a win over No. 3 Gonzaga tonight, Coach O’Connor has the chance to have a major program-defining victory this season.