After an impressive comeback win against UConn last week, No. 9 St. John’s lost on the road to Villanova, 73-71 on Wednesday night. Tyler Perkins was the hero for Villanova, as he knocked down the go-ahead three-pointer with nine seconds left in the game.
This loss worsened St. John’s record to 12-2 in the Big East, but they remain atop the conference. Villanova pulls within two games in the loss column of UConn in fourth place.
Coming into the night, St. John’s shot 68.88% from the free throw line, which was no. 275 in the entire NCAA. Those struggles haunted them on Wednesday, as the Red Storm shot just 60% from the charity stripe, with key misses throughout the contest.
St. John’s is known for its gritty, stifling defense and for creating offensive opportunities with its defense, but head coach Rick Pitino had a different game plan. His squad attempted 37 three-pointers; they had averaged roughly 19.8 three-pointers attempted this season.
The Red Storm shot just 29.7% from behind the arc, but the increase in attempts could perhaps be something Pitino wanted his team to work on. Shooting a high percentage from the charity stripe and having the ability to shoot threes would give this team quite the boost to their stifling defensive-led approach.
While the loss could raise some red flags for the Johnnies faithful, there should be little reason to worry. Following a win over the back-to-back NCAA Tournament champions, UConn, St. John’s lost in the final seconds to a solid Villanova team while getting massively outplayed in terms of field-goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free-throw percentage.
Aaron Scott led all St. John’s scorers with 22 points, 15 of which came from three-point land. Kadary Richmond recorded a 17-point and 10-assist double-double while shooting 70% from the field. RJ Luis Jr., the team’s season-leading scorer, got off to a slow start but flipped a switch in the second half and poured in 12 points.
In addition to the loss, Pitino mentioned after the game that “it’s possible” that Deivon Smith misses the remainder of the regular season. Smith averages 9.5 points per game for the Johnnies, but has active hands on defense with 35 steals in 20 games.
With this loss, St. John’s holds a one-game lead over no. 24 Creighton. The Bluejays come to the Big Apple at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Feb. 16, for either team’s biggest game of the season up to this point. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m ET.
