St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino on the sidelines
Oct 25, 2026; New York, NY, USA; St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino yells out instructions in the first half against the Texas Longhorns at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect · IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The St. John's Red Storm are coming off their first win of the season against Monmouth, and they will be looking to make it two straight on Sunday afternoon.

In what will be their first regular-season game at MSG, the Red Storm will be facing Iona, and that will mean it will be Rick Pitino against his former school.

For the Red Storm, it was a relatively easy win against Monmouth in their opener, and the team will be looking to have an even better performance on Sunday.

St. John's is a team that has some very high expectations this year, but by no means are they a finished product. This group will be continuing to develop and improve, and in their upcoming game against Iona, they figure to have a major edge in a key area.

Iona's Lack of Offensive Efficiency Will Be Major Problem

St. John's Red Storm guard Ian Jackson
Oct 25, 2026; New York, NY, USA; Texas Longhorns forward David Punch (13) is double teamed by St. John's Red Storm guard Ian Jackson (11) and forward Keyshawn Hall (7) in the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect · IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Coming into this game, KenPom.com has Iona ranking 270th in the country in offensive efficiency, and that could be a major problem for them against a talented St. John's team.

With an offensive efficiency below 100.0 and also playing at one of the slower paces in the country, things could get ugly in this one. St. John's defensive efficiency rating ranks them 10th in the country right now, and this is a clear advantage for them.

As shown against Monmouth, the Red Storm defense can be suffocating. To start the game, St. John's jumped out to a quick lead and never looked back. Their press defense resulted in a lot of turnovers and some easy baskets for the Red Storm.

Overall, there is reason to believe that this team could be very good defensively. With guards Ian Jackson and Quinn Ellis, the team has a lot of size on the perimeter.

Furthermore, at forward, the team has some excellent athletes in Tounde Yessoufou and Keyshawn Hall. While Hall might be giving up a little size at power forward depending on the matchup, he has the ability to defend as well.

At center, Ruben Prey is going to be key for the defense as a whole. He is more of a power forward in build, but being tasked with playing the five.How he able to perform against bigs will be important, but Iona is a favorable matchup.

Overall, St. John's best defense will be trying to force turnovers and using their speed and athleticism in this one. On paper, there seems to be a massive edge for the Red Storm in their defense going against the Iona offense.

Today's best reads

  • St. John's Basketball Has Wide-Ranging Floor and Ceiling
  • St. John's Basketball Will Need Rick Pitino To Work Magic To Reach Ceiling
  • St. John's Basketball Rightfully a Borderline Top 10 Team in Bilas Index
  • Ranking the Three Players Who Need To Be Great for St. John's Basketball This Season
  • One Bold Prediction for St. John's Basketball in Season-Opener vs. Monmouth

This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/st-johns as St. John's Basketball Holds Major Edge Over Iona in Key Area.

Source: Yahoo Sports