Two seasons back, St. John’s slipped a win over the top-ranked team in the nation into a losing season, besting Villanova before the Wildcats captured the national championship. It was 11 months ago that the Red Storm rallied from a 19-point deficit to again take down the Wildcats, who were en route to another pair of Big East regular-season and tournament titles.
Tuesday, there would be no upset, no miracle, no comeback. There would be no memory worth finding room for.
St. John’s season is traveling the same path.
After unexpectedly elevating hope with an 11-2 record in their non-conference slate — including wins over No. 12 West Virginia and Arizona — the Red Storm have quickly dropped expectations back to the depths of their doubt-filled preseason. Halfway through Big East play — and following a 79-59 loss to No. 8 Villanova at Madison Square Garden — St. John’s (13-9, 2-7 Big East) only league wins have come against last-place DePaul.
“I thought we’d come and play a lot better, but that’s basketball in the Big East,” first-year coach Mike Anderson said. “This team here doesn’t have a whole lot of margin for error. I’ve said that since Day 1. A lot of things have to go right.”
A 20-point home loss began with buzz. St. John’s led, 8-1. Villanova (17-3, 7-1) missed its first seven shots. The Red Storm remained in front for more than nine minutes.
Then St. John’s season-long shooting struggles returned, featuring multiple scoring droughts of multiple minutes. Villanova took control during a 13-0 run to go up 28-19, led by Saddiq Bey (23 points, 5 of 9 3-pointers). The Wildcats, who turned 10 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points, hit 12 of 29 beyond the perimeter, while the Red Storm made 6 of 19 — actually improving upon their 313th-ranked 3-point percentage (.302).
Mike AndersonCharles Wenzelberg“They did whatever they wanted to,” Anderson said. “We were a half-step slow to wherever they were. … We were not playing the type of defense we’ve played all year long.”
Sublime defensive efforts have enabled St. John’s to stand toe-to-toe with some of the most talented teams in the country, but its offense remains overmatched — this time finishing with 13 turnovers, nine assists and four free-throw attempts.
Though Rasheem Dunn broke out with 24 points and four assists, Mustapha Heron and LJ Figueroa again failed to play the part of preseason second team All-Big East selections.
Heron didn’t attempt a shot through the game’s first 13 minutes and didn’t score until more than 16 minutes had passed. The senior never scored again, finishing with a career-worst three points on 1 of 7 shooting.
Following Heron’s first 20-point outing in more than a month, the senior was held to single-digit points for the seventh time this season.
“He had some open looks,” Anderson said. “He just couldn’t knock them down.”
Figueroa shot 2 of 8 from deep, finishing with 12 points on 14 shots.
“Our big two, when they play well, we play well. We see [what happened] tonight,” Anderson said. “We’ve gotta get consistency from these guys.”
With 7:56 remaining, Villanova led 65-44. A timeout hit. St. John’s dance team took the floor, then left to the loudest ovation the Garden heard all night.
The quiet quickly returned.
