St. John’s passes tough test with huge win over rival Villanova

PHILADELPHIA — The root of this St. John’s statement, here in a packed Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday night against a revived Villanova team, took shape two weeks ago, when the Johnnies left the Garden with what Bryce Hopkins described as a “bad taste in all our mouths” and a type of pain they never wanted to feel again.

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Three convincing wins — all by double digits — that followed the disappointing loss to Providence helped. This one was more gradual. It had to be.

Villanova served as a step up for St. John’s in the Big East, and after taking nearly the entire game to pull away, after a 17-point lead early in the second half was nearly erased by the game’s final minutes, the Red Storm escaped with an 86-79 victory over the Wildcats to enter Tuesday’s showdown against Seton Hall in sole possession of second place in the conference.

Hopkins led St. John’s with 22 points and Ian Jackson contributed 18 on a season-best seven field goals. Tyler Perkins and Devin Askew paced Villanova with 23 and 21, respectively, and helped the Wildcats overcome 14 turnovers with clutch shots down the stretch.

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And against his former mentee and assistant, Rick Pitino earned his seventh win in eight matchups against Kevin Willard.

“It feels good,” Hopkins said of moving into second place, “but the job’s not finished. Our eye is on a bigger goal, and we have to keep preparing at a high level no matter who our opponent is.”

Acaden Lewis goes up for a layup as Bryce Hopkins defends during the first half of St. John’s 86-79 win over Philadelphia on Jan. 17, 2025 in Philadelphia. Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Just when it seemed as if St. John’s eight-point lead with two minutes remaining had reached an insurmountable point, the Wildcats found a way…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/st-john-passes-tough-test-033439195.html

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Publish date : 2026-01-18 03:34:00

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