5 Takeaways: St. John’s rolls Villanova for signature win of 2021

By Anthony E. Parelli (@reportedbytheAP)

The moment wasn’t too big.

 

Not against the No. 3 team in the country riding a nine-game win streak, not when Villanova trimmed a 17-point St. John’s lead to single digits, not in the crucial late minutes, where it faltered so many times earlier in the season.

 

As it turns out, the moment was just right for the Red Storm, which made its biggest statement of the year in downing the third-ranked Wildcats, 70-59, at Carnesecca Arena Wednesday night.

 

The win made it five in a row and six of seven for St. John’s (12-7, 6-6 Big East), placing itself firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble. It was the first time Villanova had played St. John’s in Queens since the Clinton administration in 1994. 

 

Looking overmatched in the first four minutes, trailing 10-3 at the first media timeout, the Johnnies regrouped and began chipping away. After missing the better part of a month with a back injury, Greg Williams, Jr. welcomed himself back to the lineup with a monster dunk to get the Red Storm to within one with nine minutes left in the opening half. His return was short-lived, however, as the junior didn’t play in the second half after possibly aggravating the injury. 

 

The Red Storm eventually took a 30-27 lead into halftime, moving to 10-0 on the season when leading at the break. A Posh Alexander steal led to a Rasheem Dunn layup to push the lead to 10 three minutes into the half. Isaih Moore’s layup made it 45-31 with just under 14 minutes to play and Julian Champagnie drilled a 3-pointer with seven minutes left to prompt a Jay Wright timeout with the Johnnies up 15.

 

As good teams tend to do, Villanova started clicking, shrinking the Red Storm lead to nine with eight minutes to play, plenty of time for the explosive Wildcats to make a run. Instead it was Champagnie that got hot, hitting another big three and draining two free throws on the following possession to put the game on ice for the Johnnies.

 

Here are my takeaways from the win:

 

Strength on strength

Coming into Wednesday’s contest, Villanova was No. 1 in the country in turnovers, while St. John’s was 14th in takeaways. The Red Storm, led by Big East leader in steals Posh Alexander, forced 17 turnovers in the contest.

 

Alexander once again looked like the best player on the court, frustrating Wildcat guard Collin Gillespie all night. Normally one of the best in the country at ball security, Gillespie turned the ball over six times and only scored four points on 2-of-12 shooting. On the other hand, the freshman Alexander led St. John’s with 16 points, four rebounds, six assists and three steals.

 

There when you need him

Thanks to the continued maturity of Alexander, much has been taken off of Champagnie’s plate in terms of needing to carry the proverbial load for St. John’s. The sophomore superstar was held scoreless in the first half, but once again came through when St. John’s needed it most, finishing with 14 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots. It was his fifth double-double of the season.

 

Forgotten men

Coming into the season, both Vince Cole and Dylan Addae-Wusu were overshadowed by more heralded newcomers. Cole and Moore both transferred from junior college, with Moore garnering All-American honors. Addae-Wusu was high school teammates with the highly-regarded Alexander. The simple fact is St. John’s doesn’t win this game without that duo.

 

Cole continued his hot shooting, scoring 12 points on four made threes and giving the Red Storm a much-needed threat from outside to open lanes for its slashers. Addae-Wusu came off the bench to score nine points and grab four rebounds, but what doesn’t show up on the stat sheet was how much of a menace the freshman was defensively.

 

Group effort

Generally undersized, the Red Storm are built on team rebounding. Champagnie led the way, but contributions from guards like Alexander, Addae-Wusu and Dunn (5) as well as Moore (6) and Earlington (3) off the bench helped the Johnnies to stay within two, 42-40, of Villanova on the glass.

 

Back on track

The days of defense holding St. John’s back this season seems like a distant memory, as this streak has without a doubt started on its own end of the floor. The Red Storm held the normally prolific Villanova offense to its lowest output of the season on just 32.3 percent shooting and 26.7 percent from distance.

 

Aside from the forced turnovers, St. John’s also dominated under the rim, blocking seven shots to Villanova’s zero, and only let up 13 free throw attempts.

 

Next up

Suddenly playing for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, St. John’s travels to Providence to take on the Friars at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Providence is coming off two-straight losses, scoring only 43 points against Seton Hall on Wednesday, and is led by junior guard David Duke and senior center Nate Watson, who combine to average 36.2 points and 12.7 rebounds per game.