Freshman Moe Harkless scored a career-high 32 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead St. John’s to a 91-67 win over Providence in the Big East opener for both teams at Carnesseca Arena.

Harkless hit 14 of 17 shots and recorded his fourth double-double this season.

St. John’s jumped out to a 19-6 lead by creating and scoring off of turnovers. With 11:41 left in the first half, St. John’s held a 6-1 advantage in turnovers, and a 12-2 advantage in points off of turnovers.

St John’s (7-5, 1-0) built a 47-31 lead at the half, shooting 56.7 percent (17 of 30) and forcing 10 Providence turnovers. Providence could pull no closer than 12 points. The Friars (11-3, 0-1) committed 20 turnovers to St. John’s nine and were outscored 34-11 off of turnovers.

St. John’s won its third straight game and improved to 7-1 at home.

Freshman D’Angelo Harrison also had a career-high with 28 points for the Red Storm. Six of the seven players in St. John’s starting rotation are first-year players. Phil Green added 12 for the Red Storm.

Gerard Coleman led Providence with 20 points, while Vince Council added 11. The Friars entered the game with four players averaging in double figures. Council entered the game averaging 16.9.