• Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

NEW YORK CITY –  Tuesday night’s contest between the #24 ranked St. John’s Red Storm and the #8 ranked Villanova Wildcats was a tale of two halves. The first half was back and forth the entire 20 minutes. The physicality of the game was high as was expected, and so was the pace of the game.

D’Angelo Harrison led the way for the Johnnies, as his pull up jumper was on point and he was able to get into the paint. However, Harrison came down hard after attempting a block on a breakaway layup. This was the turning point, because Harrison after that point wasn’t nearly as effective for the rest of the game. He left the game late in the 1st half, but would return to start the 2nd half.

Credit: Barry Holmes/PureSportsNY ... Harrison warming up prior to Tuesday night's contest
Credit: Barry Holmes/PureSportsNY … Harrison warming up prior to Tuesday night’s contest

Villanova came out sluggish in the 1st half, and missed a lot of makeable shots. Their defense wasn’t its best as well, which put them down by one at halftime (34-35). However, they came out playing hard in the 2nd half. Their ball movement was terrific, and they were able to get open 3 point opportunities which really broke the game open. Ryan Arcidiacono was the assist-man on a lot of those threes; he finished with 10 assists (no turnovers). Production from their bigs JayVaughn Pinkston, and Daniel Ochefu is what sealed the deal though. Ochefu finished with a double double (13 points, 13 rebounds) and Pinkston added a solid 7 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Darrun Hilliard II led Villanova in scoring with 21 points.

Credit: Barry Holmes/PureSportsNY ... Villanova handed St. John's its 3rd straight loss in a row
Credit: Barry Holmes/PureSportsNY … Villanova handed St. John’s its 3rd straight loss in a row

In the 2nd half, St. John’s got exposed for their lack of production and defense from their own bigs. The Wildcats scored a total of 56 points in the 2nd half to get them an impressive 90-72 win in the Garden. Harrison finished with 25 points to lead all scorers on the night. He couldn’t do it all by himself and that what it came down to. Phil Greene IV was the only other player in double figures (14 points).

The loss puts St. John’s at 0-3 in Big East Conference play, and likely will drop them out of the top 25. St. John’s also is on a 3 game losing streak, but will have a chance to snap it against Providence (12-4, 2-1) on January 14th.

 

Barry Holmes/Pure Sports NY

By Barry Holmes

Graduate of Millersville University, with a BS in Communications focused in Broadcast. Senior Writer & Social Media Manager for PureSportsNY.

One thought on “St. John’s Beat By Villanova, 90-72”
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    Professor Benton

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