GAME NOTES: A pair of squads from the Empire State do battle at Carnesecca Arena on Tuesday night, as the Niagara Purple Eagles pay a visit to the St. John's Red Storm.

Niagara has fallen more than it has soared this season, with three losses in four games. The Purple Eagles were most recently sent away with a 74-59 setback by St. Bonaventure, following a 65-62 loss at home to Hartford. They will play in their second Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game of the season next against Canisius.

St. John's won its first four games before tangling with No. 10 Gonzaga in the championship game of the NIT Season Tip-Off last Friday. The Red Storm hung with the Zags, but ultimately fell short in a 73-66 final. They will battle another team from New York and a former Big East Conference rival, when they face Syracuse this Friday.

Sharing the same state has provided these regional foes plenty of opportunity to get together, with 98 previous matchups. St John's has completely dominated the series (71-27). However, Niagara won the last contest, earning a 77-73 win at Carnesecca Arena in 2007.

A 9-2 run at the end of the first half placed Niagara in a 10-point hole at intermission against St. Bonaventure. The Purple Eagles were never able to get much closer, trailing by as many as 23 points in the final 20 minutes. They connected on only 36.5 percent of their shots from the field in the contest, although they did have some success from 3-point range (7-of-17).

As might be expected for a team with a 1-3 record, Niagara has not been all that potent offensively. The Purple Eagles are only netting 56.8 points per game and shooting at a 37.2 percent clip. They also have an average of just 7.8 assists per contest. Rayvon Harris (11.2 ppg, 5 rpg) is the leading scorer on the roster. He managed a meager 10 points against St. Bonaventure. Emile Blackman (10.5 pg), Ramone Snowden (10.2 ppg) and Karonn Davis (10 ppg) are all averaging in double figures, but after that, Wesley Myers (6.5 ppg) is the only contributor putting in more than four points per game.

A 3-pointer from Phil Greene IV with a minute to play got St John's to within three points of Gonzaga, but the Red Storm's comeback attempt stalled when Rysheed Jordan failed to score on their next possession. The Red Storm could very well have won the game if they had shot better, as they made only 36.7 percent of their field goal attempts, compared to a 52.9 percent showing from Gonzaga. Greene finished with a game-high 20 points in the loss.

The Red Storm's opponents haven't normally been as efficient with their shots from the floor as Gonzaga was, the team letting up only a 37.6 percent success rate from the field, while scoring 74.6 points per game itself. D'Angelo Harrison (17.8 ppg, 9 rpg) and Jordan (17.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.4 apg) are much more than scoring guards, with each making a tremendous impact on other parts of the box score as well. Greene (11.4 ppg) and Sir'Dominic Pointer (11.2 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 3.2 spg) add to the scoring punch, while Chris Obekpa (7.4 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 4 bpg) is a tremendous defensive force in the paint.

Although depth is a bit of an issue for St. John's, it still possesses an excellent starting nucleus, one that almost took down a stout Gonzaga team. Niagara will not be nearly as formidable.