Villanova vs St. John’s: Game Preview

Villanova Wildcats 14-3 (5-1) vs St. John’s Red Storm 12-5 (5-1)

Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena (Philadelphia, PA)

When: Saturday, Jan. 17 at 8:00 PM

Betting Line: Villanova -1.5 (subject to change)

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How to Watch: NBC Sports Network & Peacock

How to Listen: Villanova Sports Radio Network

Net Rankings: Villanova 25, St. John’s 26 (Quad 1)

KenPom: Villanova 26, St. John’s 18

Torvik: Villanova 30, St. John’s 20

About St. John’s: The Red Storm were selected to finish first in the Big East Preseason Poll, and came into the season ranked 5th in the AP Poll. They have come up well short of those expectations to this point, but things are starting to turn as of late. Outside of the surprising home loss to Providence, the Johnnies haven’t lost a game since Dec. 20 at Kentucky. The Red Storm have won their last three games by a total of 55 points.

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Preseason Conference Player of the Year Zuby Ejiofor will be at the top of the scouting report for the ‘Cats. The 6’9” senior is averaging 16.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.1 blocks per game, all of which lead the team. He is joined in the frontcourt by Bryce Hopkins and Dillon Mitchell. Hopkins, a 6’7” senior transfer from Providence, averages 13.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest. Both Ejiofor and Hopkins are capable of hitting the long ball, with each shooting around 30%. A major x-factor for St. John’s is Mitchell. The 6’8” senior transfer from Cincinnati averages 8.5 points and 6.2 rebounds, doing a lot of the little things for the Red Storm. Mitchell is not a threat from deep.

The backcourt is led by four transfers. Oziyah Sellers and Ian Jackson start the games, with Joson Sanon and Dylan Darling coming off of the bench. The quartet combine to score 37.4 points per game and make 4.5 threes per game. Sellers, the 6’5” senior transfer from Stanford, is averaging 16.7 points over his past three contests and shoots 40.5% from range on the year.

One other player…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/villanova-vs-st-john-game-193000592.html

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Publish date : 2026-01-16 19:30:00

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