St. John’s v. Georgia Tech

Who will WIN this matchup?

St. John’s Red Storm (6-0)

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (4-2)

Current odds:

St. John’s Red Storm: (-175)

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: (+155)

• The line for this game is St. Johns by 4 points.

• St. John’s is off to its best start in nearly a decade by winning its first six games of the season and looks to improve to 7-0 for the first time since 1994-95 when it faces Georgia Tech on Saturday at the Hoophall Miami Invitational. The offense has led the way for the Red Storm so far, averaging 83 points per game thanks in large part to guard Shamorie Ponds, who ranks second in the Big East in scoring at 20 points per game and led St. John’s to the Legends Classic tournament title last week.

• The Yellow Jackets have lost twice so far, both road games against Power 5 conference teams at Tennessee and Tuesday at Northwestern in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Guard Jose Alvarado scored 24 points for the Yellow Jackets, who trailed by 28 points in the second half after a dreadful start but rallied to get within five before falling 67-61. “Jose did some good things in the second half, but we need him to do that both halves,” Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner told the media afterward.

• Ponds scored just four points Tuesday, but LJ Figueroa led the way offensively, setting career highs with 25 points, 13 rebounds and five steals while hitting 10-of-17 shots from the field. Figueroa is shooting 57.4 percent from the field and is 15-of-28 from 3-point range. Auburn transfer Mustapha Heron scored 20 points with nine rebounds and has scored 20 or more points in three of his first six games with the Red Storm. Heron ranks second on the team in scoring at 18.7 points per game, with Figueroa scoring 15.8 per contest.

• Alvarado leads the Yellow Jackets in scoring at 13.7 points per game after his career-high performance against Northwestern. Fellow guard Brandon Alston is the only other Georgia Tech player scoring in double figures at 11.8 points per contest. The Yellow Jackets have been fantastic on defense, ranking second in the ACC and 16th in the nation entering the weekend in scoring defense (59 points per game), and lead the conference and rank 10th in the nation in opponents’ field-goal percentage (36 percent).

• The Yellow Jackets averaged 57 points per game in their losses, while scoring 76 points per game in their four victories (over Lamar, East Carolina, Texas-Rio Grande Valley and Prairie View A&M).

• Ponds, the reigning Big East player of the week, has averaged 33.5 points, six assists and four steals per game in three neutral-site games so far this season.

• St. John’s will play five consecutive games at home after facing the Yellow Jackets.