It was a back-and-forth battle throughout, until the Johnnies pulled away late to defeat Villanova.
It was going to be a war from opening tip and it certainly was on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Villanova was locked in a back-and-forth battle with St. John’s. The Wildcats and Red Storm traded leads and baskets for 36 minutes during the 40-minute contest.
St. John’s clung onto a one-possession lead with 2:35 left, but the Johnnies were able to seal the win by closing out on a 14-3 run to win, 80-68.
The Red Storm got 12 of those points from the free-throw line during the game-sealing surge.
It was a tough way for the ‘Cats to go down. They didn’t make any shots over the final 2:35.
St. John’s got some separation late in the first half with a 10-2 run topped by a pair of Zuby Ejiofor free throws to take a seven-point lead. However, Eric Dixon drew a foul with 0.1 seconds left to cut away at the deficit, with St. John’s taking a 36-31 lead at half.
Villanova emerged strong out of the halftime break and opened with a 10-2 run to take the lead after a series of Wooga Poplar free throws.
Poplar would later get an and-1 to give the ‘Cats a 54-50 lead with 8:29 remaining in the game, their largest lead of the contest.
St. John’s responded with an and-1 from Kadary Richmond, and he would return by hitting the go-ahead basket to give St. John’s a 55-54 lead with 7:47 left. The Johnnies would never relinquish the lead the rest of the way, but it remained close until that run at the end.
St. John’s dominated the glass, outrebounding the ‘Cats 44-28. It also brought the heat defensively to slow down Dixon. Dixon did get into more of an offensive groove in the second half and finished with 18 points on 6-of-19 shooting overall. He was 4-for-9 from beyond the arc.
Poplar paced the Wildcats with 22 points, including his 1,000th career point. Jhamir Brickus had 13 points and six boards.
For St. John’s, R.J. Luis had a 30-point, 10-rebound double-double. Luis went 16-of-20 from the free-throw line. Aaron Scott and Deivon Smith each had 12 points. Ejiofor finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Villanova shot 22-of-56 (39.3%) and 10-for-26 (38.5%) from the three-point line. The Wildcats converted on 14-of-17 foul shots.
St. John’s went 22-of-55 (40.0%) and 7-for-24 (29.2%) from deep. The Red Storm frequented the free-throw line, shooting 29-of-39 (74.4%) from the charity stripe.
Villanova drops to 11-6 overall and 4-2 in Big East play. The ‘Cats will stay on the road for their next matchup, which will be against Xavier on Tuesday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.