Knicks Face the Heat, Duke Lusts for St. John's Blood, Wagner Takes Sacred Heart: Predictions and Recap

Wagner tops Sacred Heart

This one was never close. Wagner jumped out to an early lead and kept it the rest of the way. They defeated Sacred Heart 73-54 to pick up their 16^th win of the season.

Tyler Murray led the Seahawks with 21 points, shooting 7-9 from behind the arc. Wagner dominated this game with its three-point shooting. The Seahawks went 11-21, while Sacred Heart was just 3-20 from distance.

Wagner started the game on an 18-5 run and never let Sacred Heart within less than 7 from that point on. The key to avoiding an upset is never letting the opponent feel they have a chance. Sacred Heart never got to a point where it looked like they might come back.

Wagner went on the road and took care of business against a lesser opponent. It was the type of game you'd expect from a tournament-level team.

Knicks vs. Heat: Friday 8:00

This is exactly the opposite of what the Knicks need right now. They've had a hard enough time staying competitive with mediocre NBA teams. Now New York goes on the road to face one of their toughest tests of the season

All eyes will be on the Knicks tonight as they play the Heat in a nationally televised game. In the off-season, New York talked about competing with Miami for an Eastern Conference title. Now the Knicks' biggest concern is getting back to respectability.

Miami has struggled at times this year, but still remains one of the NBA's top dogs at 13-5. LeBron James has been as good as ever and Norris Cole has been a big surprise in his first year.

The one saving grace for the Knicks' in this game is that Dwayne Wade hasn't played in two weeks may not play in this one. Wade averaged 28 points against New York last season.

It's hard to pick the Knicks to beat anyone at this point, especially a good team. They're lost offensively, which doesn't bode well for them against the second-highest scoring team in the NBA.

The Heat remain the most hated team in the league and usually get their opponent's best shot. After a lackluster performance against the Cavs, it's hard to imagine the Knicks not giving an A+ effort.

The Knicks can try as hard as they want but it probably won't be good enough. Carmelo Anthony is still battling injuries and Amare Stoudemire doesn't look the player he was last year. It's really hard to pick the Knicks against anybody right now. It's almost impossible to do it against the Heat.

Heat 104, Knicks 90.

St. John's vs. Duke: Saturday 12 p.m.

It was one of the most stunning games of the college basketball season. Last year the Johnnies blew out Duke at MSG 93-78.

Now it's time for Duke to return the favor.

St. John's was a much different team last year. They were older, battle-tested and ready for anything that was thrown at them. Right now the Red Storm are struggling and it'd be hard to find a more inexperienced group in the entire country.

The Johnnies beat West Virginia on Wednesday while starting five freshmen. That's unheard of. Moe Harkles scored 23 points and pulled down 13 boards as St. John's snapped a four game losing streak.

Before their last game, the Red Storm had struggled all year. They entered the contest last in the Conference in shooting percentage and haven't beaten any of the better teams in the country. St. John's is 0-7 against ranked opponents.

Duke enters this game ranked sixth in the nation. They have one of the best home-court advantages, losing just 1 of their last 46 games at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke hasn't forgotten what happened last year. They won't show any mercy to the Johnnies. Expect this one to get ugly.

Duke 90, St. John's 67