Red Storm captures its highest ranked win on campus since 1966
February 4, 2021
Hosting its highest ranked on-campus opponent in more than four decades, the St. John's men's basketball team took down the No. 3/3 Villanova Wildcats in convincing fashion, 70-59, on Wednesday at Carnesecca Arena.
St. John's (12-7, 6-6 BIG EAST) has now won five straight and six of its last seven. The Johnnies have won four straight BIG EAST games for the first time since 2014-15, a streak that includes three conference road victories.
The win was the Red Storm's second of the season against a ranked opponent and the best of the Mike Anderson Era so far. The win marked the Red Storm's first against a top-five foe since downing eventual national champion and No. 1/1 Villanova on Feb. 7, 2018, in Philadelphia. The victory was also the best at Carnesecca Arena/Alumni Hall in terms of AP ranking since Jan. 19, 1966, when Sonny Dove tallied 28 points and 24 rebounds in an 82-72 win over No. 3 Saint Joseph's during Lou Carnesecca's first year as St. John's head coach.
Averaging an NCAA-low 8.3 turnovers per game before facing the Johnnies, Villanova (11-2, 6-1 BIG EAST) coughed up 17 possessions against the Red Storm's unrelenting pressure. Arguably the best point guard in the country, Collin Gillespie registered six turnovers. Coming into Wednesday, Gillespie had 12 turnovers in 12 games and ranked fourth in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.7-to-1.
Posh Alexander recorded three steals to go along with a game-high 16 points and six rebounds. The freshman from Brooklyn shot 7-of-14 from the floor and 2-of-4 from three-point range. Alexander leads the BIG EAST and ranks seventh nationally with 2.7 steals per game.
Julian Champagnie scored all 14 of his points in the second half and grabbed a career-high 13 boards for his fifth double-double of the campaign. The leading scorer in the BIG EAST, Champagnie has reached double figures in all 17 of his appearances this season. The Bishop Loughlin product also blocked three shots, one off his career high.
Vince Cole sank four of his seven attempts from beyond the arc to finish with 12 points, marking his fourth straight game in double figures.
Freshman Dylan Addae-Wusu proved crucial to the St. John's victory, tallying nine points, four rebounds, two assists and an emphatic block. Isaih Moore scored eight points on just five field goal attempts and grabbed six boards. Marcellus Earlington registered two steals.
As a team, St. John's shot 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from three-point range while limiting the high-powered Wildcats offense to just a 26.7 percent (8-of-30) showing from deep. Villanova shot 32.3 percent from the field overall.
The Johnnies had last hosted a top-five opponent in Queens on Feb. 16, 1980, when they welcomed No. 2 Syracuse.
The Red Storm started the game slow, missing its first five shot attempts and seven of its first eight. Trailing 10-3 at the first media timeout, the Johnnies slowly began to chip away. Down 19-13 following a Cole Swider triple, the Red Storm rattled off a 10-0 run to take its first lead of the night.
The Wildcats briefly regained the lead, 25-23, following a Caleb Daniels three with 5:14 to play, but Cole drained a trey on the ensuing possession and the Johnnies never trailed again for the rest of the evening.
Up by three, 30-27, at the intermission, St. John's opened the half on a 10-2 run to take its first double-digit lead of the night.
Down 15, 49-34, with 10:41 to play, Villanova went on a quick 7-2 spurt to shave the deficit back to 10 two minutes later. The Red Storm responded with a 7-0 run in the span of 70 seconds, as Addae-Wusu made a driving layup, Champagnie drained a three and Alexander threw down a fast-break slam off a steal to make it 58-41 with 6:49 to go.
Villanova would not go quietly, holding St. John's scoreless for more than three minutes and going on an 8-0 run to trim the Red Storm lead to nine, 58-49, with 3:55 remaining.
Champagnie stopped the bleeding with his second 3-ball of the half and the Johnnies' lead never dipped below 10 the rest of the way.
The Johnnies will look to win their fifth straight BIG EAST game when they travel to Providence on Saturday for a 2 p.m. showdown with the Friars on FS1 and 570 AM WMCA.