Tyler Perkins’ go-ahead three ends St. John’s win streak as Johnnies fall to Villanova

By Jason Dimaio (@Jaydimaio)

VILLANOVA, Pa. — Just outside a city still celebrating a Super Bowl championship, it seemed as though St. John’s was about to pull off yet another storybook ending.

Down as many as 11 points in the second half before a 14-0 run swung the pendulum its way, the Red Storm shook off a Villanova rally and hit yet another clutch shot in the final minute, appearing to extend its magical win streak. Alas, it proved to be for naught.

After Simeon Wilcher put the ninth-ranked Johnnies ahead on a 3-pointer with 27.9 seconds remaining in regulation, Tyler Perkins answered with a three of his own shortly thereafter to retake the lead for Villanova, who held on for a 73-71 victory after Wilcher’s ensuing attempt at the buzzer did not hit the mark.

The loss is the first of the calendar year for St. John’s (21-4, 12-2 Big East), who had not been defeated since suffering a one-point setback at Creighton on December 31, after which the Red Storm proceeded to win its next ten games.

The start of Wednesday’s game had a recurring theme, with St. John’s starting slow offensively. This time, however, the Red Storm’s defense—the second-best in the nation per KenPom—sputtered in the early going. The Johnnies struggled to find an answer for Wooga Poplar, the Miami transfer who scored 13 of his 22 points in the opening stanza.

Trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half, St. John’s used its defense to pull itself out of the early hole, stringing together stops that led to a 10-0 run on the offensive end to go into the locker room at halftime trailing the Wildcats by just two points, 34-32. There was no shortage of adversity for the Red Storm in the opening frame on Wednesday, as Deivon Smith was ruled out, Aaron Scott battled foul trouble, and both RJ Luis and Zuby Ejiofor were held scoreless in the initial 20 minutes.

Out of the intermission, though, St. John’s fired the first salvo, scoring five points on the strength of a Luis dunk and Scott three. But just when it seemed like a typical second-half outburst was coming for the visitors, Villanova responded. The Wildcats fed Poplar for a majority of the night, using the Philadelphia native to build a 59-48 advantage with 9:48 remaining in regulation. But once again, the Johnnies would not go quietly into the night.

St. John’s cranked up its pressure defense and slowly started to break Villanova down. The full-court press, coupled with Scott’s timely offense, sparked a 14-0 run that put the Red Storm ahead by three, at 62-59, almost three minutes later. The Wildcats answered, scoring the next six points to retake command as Eric Dixon solved the riddle of the Johnnies’ intense ball pressure. The fifth-year senior drilled back-to-back threes late in the shot clock to give the hosts a 70-66 advantage with three minutes on the clock.

The stakes only picked up from there. Nearly two minutes would elapse before either side struck again, which St. John’s did first as Kadary Richmond scored on a drive to pull within two, drawing a foul in the process. Richmond would miss the ensuing free throw, giving Villanova a chance to put the game away. However, after drawing a foul on Ejiofor, Dixon missed the front end of a 1-and-1, giving the ball back to the Red Storm. It was then that Wilcher drained his go-ahead triple from NBA range, silencing the Finneran Pavilion crowd.

Trailing by a 71-70 margin after the Wilcher three, Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune called a timeout to draw up a play, which appeared to break down as St. John’s sealed off most of the Wildcats’ driving lanes. With six seconds remaining, Perkins connected on his go-ahead three from the right wing. With a timeout of his own available, Rick Pitino elected to play out the final possession and go the length of the floor, with Wilcher’s attempt for the win falling off the right iron.

“I knew it was off,” the sophomore said of his final look. “It was a clean look, I just didn’t make it. (I’m) not really hanging my head too low about it, because we have a big game coming up this weekend and we have to prepare for that.”

“We lost because we didn’t block out,” Pitino reflected. “We were not good at guarding the ball. They made a lot of terrific shots with one second left (on the shot clock), but twice, we didn’t block out and it cost us the game. That’s been a weakness of ours and it finally bit us in the ass, but (it was) a great game. The guys played their asses off.”

Still a game ahead of Creighton for first place in the Big East standings, St. John’s will look to regroup and keep its conference lead when it welcomes the Bluejays to Madison Square Garden on Sunday, hoping to avenge the one-point loss in Omaha in December. Tipoff is slated for 3 p.m.