9:02PM And that’s the ball game. The final Score is St. John’s 66 , Georgia 56. Much like the last time the Storm played at MSG, it was an ugly game, but I’m sure they’ll take a win any day of the week. 

9:01PM: In advance of the Connecticut-Kentucky game, half of the crowd is chanting “Let’s go Huskies”, the other half is booing.

8:58PM: The clock is going to run out on this one. St. John’s should move to 7-1 with dates coming up against Hofstra, Cornell or Davidson (the Holiday Festival), and Bryant. There’s not a single game that St. John’s should lose out of that batch, so Storm fans can be dissapointed if they’re not 10-1 heading into the New Years Eve matchup with Georgetown. 

8:49PM: Travis Leslie just threw down a monster alley-oop. For those who joined me in wondering, Hatten was last spotted playing in Italy. Someone get Mike D’Antoni on the line. St. John’s leads 61-51 with 2:15 remaining. 

8:44PM: There’s a timeout on the floor, and that gets me wondering: Whatever happened to Marcus Hatten? The NCAA can scrub out St. John’s 2003 NIT championship all they want, but I remember it, and I wonder where Hatten is now, six years later. 

8:41PM: DJ Kennedy with a dunk, and then with a steal and  layup. The DJ Kennedy mini-hour. St. John’s leads59-45, Kennedy has 5 points. 

8:38PM: Would you believe me if I said that St. John’s was shooting almost 47 percent from the field? 

8:33PM: St. John’s has taken control of this game. Evan’s basket make the score 52-41 with 9:12 remaining.This is what you had hoped to see if you were a St. John’s fan. 

8:27PM: Omari Lawrence just took a hard tumble. He kinda got up gingerly, but it looks like he just gotthe wind knocked out of him. 

8:25PM: Dwight Hardy adds a three. 48-36, largest lead of the game for the Red Storm. 

8:22PM: There’s a timeout, St. John’s leads 45-36. Georgia’s Trey Thompkins is scoring at will against the Red Storm, but the rest of the Bulldogs have combined to score five field goals. 

8:21PM: Malik Boothe with a three! 43-34

8:20PM: DJ Kennedy just crossed up Ricky McPhee so badly he tripped. Kennedy finishes with a basket, but Georgia answers with a three. 40-34.

8:19PM: Paris Horne just hit a big three, and Travis Wesley answered on the other end. 38-31 St. John’s. 

8:18PM: Brownlee adds a basket, the lead is 35-27 St. John’s. 

8:17PM: Travis Leslie tried to stuff one down Dele Coker’s gullet, Coker rejected it (but was called for a foul.) 33-27 St. John’s, 18:07 left. 

8:12PM: Great passing leads to a Sean Evans basket. St. John’s opens the second half with a 30-25 lead.

7:54PM: And we’re at halftime. St. John’s 28, Georgia 25. I’m going to go find a pillow. Dwight Hardyleads St. John’s with 7 points, and Trey Thompkins leads Georiga with 11. 

7:52PM: St. John’s calls a time out to set up a play with 42 seconds left in the first half. They’re up three. It’s encouraging that they haven’t been blown out by a team from a power conference (ahem Virginia Tech), but it’s a little disconcerting that they can only play a 4-3 team to the tune of a three point lead. 

7:48PM: And DJ Kennedy comes up with a layup off a steal. St. John’s extends their lead to 6, 26-20 with 1:38 to play in the first half. 

7:45PM: Apologies for the, struggling with wifi connection issues here at MSG. Anyway, you haven’t missed much. St. John’s leads by two. Travis Leslie of Georgia just missed an alley-oop but hit a free throw.  

7:24PM: Defense leads to baskets. Stith scores on a steal, while Vincent Williams answers from the top of the key. Score’s still tied. 

7:22PM: St. John’s problem is that they can struggle to shoot the baskebtall. They’re missing shots, while Georgia is moving the ball around. Bulldogs are on an 8-3 run, game’s tied 12-12.

7:16PM: Coker with a nice block, Evans is called for a foul. Travis Leslie is at the free throw line. 9-4 St. John’s. 

7:11PM: Seans Evans in for Brownlee,  DJ Kennedy in for Lawrence. St. John’s defense is swarming early. 9-3 St. John’s. 

7:08PM: Dele Coker looks to be in much better shape than he was last year. He looks much stronger. St. John’s out to the early 7-3 lead. 

7:02PM: Last time St. John’s played at the Garden, they were embarrassed by Marquette in the Big East Tourmanent.

Hardy, Lawrence, and Coker are all starting tonight for St. John’s 

6:45PM: Good evening, sports fans. I’m here at Madison Square Garden to cover the opening game of the Big East-SEC Invitational: St. John’s vs Georgia. 

St. John’s enters the game at 6-1, while the Bulldogs enter at 4-3. This is the third all time meeting between the two teams, and the first since 1983 in the NCAA tournament. St. John’s won 66-43 in 1946, and Georgia beat the Storm 70-67 in the 1983.

More when the game starts.