Score: St. John's 85, UAlbany 57
 
Location: Carnesecca Arena in Queens, N.Y.
 
Records: UAlbany (6-7); St. John's (10-2)
 
Short Story: A career night for de Sousa isn't enough to halt St. John's, who defeats UAlbany 85-57 in the first of four-straight road games for the Great Danes.
 
Key Stats
 

• Malachi de Sousa scored the first five points of the game
• de Sousa scored 12 points in the first half on 5-6 shooting
• St. John's outscored UAlbany 24-8 in the paint in the first half
• de Sousa finished with a career-high 22 points on 8-11 shooting
• St. John's shot 50.7% from the floor
• St. John's recorded 11 blocked shots
• St. John's outscored UAlbany 54-24 in the paint, 41-25 off the bench, and 30-15 off turnovers

 
Coach Brown: "I felt watching film that St. John's was one of the hardest-playing teams in the country, and their offense is predicated on their defense.  They do a great job of turning teams over.  They have good size and athleticism, and they're relentless defensively.  We struggled with ball security a little bit, and I thought in the first half we had some clean looks we just didn't knock down.  I thought it was really important for us to come out with a good start in the second half and we had a couple of opportunities we didn't capitalize on.  They did a great job of speeding us up, and stylistically, this is the worst matchup for our team, the way our team is constructed.  So we'll watch the film, learn from it, forget about it, and find a way to win on Saturday at Monmouth."
 
Recap
 
Kicking off a four-game road swing, the University at Albany men's basketball team visited St. John's Wednesday night for a nationally televised game.  After starting hot, the Great Danes succumbed to the Red Storm's stifling defense and fell by a final score of 85-57.
 
After a scoreless first minute, UAlbany got on the board first with a three-pointer from Malachi de Sousa.  de Sousa hit a contested layup after the Great Dane defense forced a St. John's turnover to put UAlbany up 5-0 early.
 
With 17:18 left in the first, Cameron Healy hit a three from the top right corner, extended his made-threes streak to 45 games and putting UAlbany up 8-3.
 
A dunk in transition with 14:59 remaining in the first gave St. John's its first lead of the night, 9-8, following a 6-0 run.  The Red Storm's run built to 21-0 and lasted nearly 11 minutes before UAlbany scored again with 6:17 left in the first, a baseline layup from Romani Hansen, to cut the lead to 24-10.
 
By the end of their drought, UAlbany had missed 14 of their previous 15 shots, and 10 of their last 11 three-point attempts.
 
UAlbany followed their drought by scoring seven quick points, cutting St. John's' lead to 11.  The Red Storm responded with a three-pointer to go back up by 14, 29-15.
 
A three-pointer with 4:17 remaining gave de Sousa his 10th point of the game, and brought UAlbany within 29-18.  de Sousa had accounted for more than half of UAlbany's points so far and had shot 4-5 from the floor.
 
Hansen drew a foul on the baseline with 3:21 left in the first, drawing the Danes' first free throws of the night.  He hit both to cut the Red Storm lead to 34-20.
 
St. John's took a 35-22 lead into halftime.  de Sousa scored 12 points in the first half on 5-6 shooting, including 2-3 from three.  St. John's had outscored UAlbany 24-8 in the paint, and 15-4 off turnovers.
 
de Sousa kicked off the second half drawing a foul on a driving layup and hitting the free throw, tying his career-high with 15 points.  He set a new career-high 17 points with 15:29 to go in the second.
 
Another three-point play with 14:48 to go gave de Sousa his first 20-point game as a Great Dane.  St. John's responded with five quick points to go up by 20, 52-32.
 
Mid-way through the second, UAlbany put together a quick 6-0 run to cut the Red Storm lead to 63-45.
 
St. John's went on an 11-0 run late in the second half to build their lead to 30.  Antonio Rizzuto broke the run with a three-pointer with 2:07 to go.
 
The Red Storm went on to win by a final score of 85-57.  St. John's outscored UAlbany 54-24 in the paint and 41-25 off the bench.  de Sousa finished with a career-and game-high 22 points on 8-11 shooting.
 
Next: The Great Danes continue their four-game road swing Saturday at Monmouth for a 2:00 p.m. tip.  UAlbany returns home to face Maine on January 11.