After an 81-52 blowout of Drexel in their preseason opener Wednesday night, the Red Storm are back in exhibition action against Rutgers at the World’s Most Famous Arena. The Scarlet Knights are coming off a narrow 77-75 defeat to Villanova in their first preseason game last Sunday, October 11, in which they played without their leading scorer from last season, Tariq Francis.
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Game information
Who: St. John’s Red Storm vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
When: Sunday, October 18, 2026, 12:00 p.m.
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
TV: B1G+ (A one-time pay-per-view link is available for $8.99)
Radio: N/A
Series History: St. John’s leads all-time series, 28-14. The Red Storm won their last three competitive meetings against the Scarlet Knights dating back to 2013, and have won their last two preseason exhibitions in 2023 and 2024.
Injury news
Kyle Cuffe, Jr. (unknown) did not play in Wednesday’s exhibition against Drexel. Cuffe did not participate in warmups and joined Donnie Freeman (Achilles) on the sideline.
What to watch for
Sane Shines: There is a lot to be excited about in Babacar Sane. The 23-year-old forward showed off his dynamic blend of athleticism and scoring prowess, leading the Red Storm with 17 points and eight rebounds in Wednesday’s win over Drexel. St. John’s could ride the hot hand against the Scarlet Knights, especially if they struggle to hit threes again after Sane’s teammates went a combined 3-for-25 from deep against Drexel.
Can’t Keep Jack’ in a Box: Co-captain Ian Jackson rebounded from a rough 0-of-7 shooting start in Wednesday’s exhibition versus Drexel by finishing in double figures and making four of his last five shots. The junior guard from the Bronx looked more composed in the second half, and it will be interesting to see if he can carry that into Sunday’s game against a physical Rutgers team.
Prey It Forward: Wednesday wasn’t Ruben Prey’s day. The junior breakout candidate couldn’t find his rhythm against Drexel, scoring 6 points (1-of-3 from the field) and two rebounds. The Red Storm will need Prey to put that game behind him and get the better of Virginia Tech transfer Christian Gurdak, who had 19 points and eight rebounds in the Scarlet Knights’ first exhibition versus Villanova.
On Your Mark, Get Smith, Go!: Rutgers will likely play it safe and continue resting last season’s leading scorer, Tariq Francis (17.0 ppg in 2025-26), after he missed last week’s exhibition against Villanova with an injury. If so, the Scarlet Knights will turn to returning sophomore Lino Mark and Central Connecticut State transfer Darin Smith, Jr. to lead their offense. Mark had 12 points (4-of-13 from the field, 2-of-5 from three) and a team-high five assists, while Smith led the Scarlet Knights with 20 points (7-of-12 from the field, 2-of-3 from three) in last week’s scrimmage against the Wildcats.
Pregame links
- Check out our game recap of Wednesday night’s exhibition win over Drexel if you haven’t already.
- Rick Pitino finds Quinn Ellis, point guard of his dreams for St. John’s — Roger Rubin, Newsday
- St. John’s basketball gets glimpse of Babacar Sane’s impact in exhibition with eligibility uncertain — Kevin Connelly, Storm The Paint
- Major news around the Big East: Providence commit Dink Pate is withdrawing from the school and returning to Westchester Knicks in the NBA G-League. Pate was considered a strong Big East Player of the Year candidate, but could not gain eligibility following an arduous battle in the courts with the NCAA.
- Andy Katz ranked Ian Jackson third on his top 10 juniors list.
- Sadiku Ibine Ayo was welcomed back at Iona’s Midnight Madness event.
- [Happy Gilmore voice] Dillon Mitchell learned how to hit threes. Uh oh.
