Almost any one who has watched St. John’s over the last two seasons could see it coming — the chronic lull that inexplicably overtakes the Red Storm each year.
Red Storm coach Norm Roberts not only sensed it, he saw it — the slow erosion of offensive execution, the failure to get to loose balls, the inability to make a shot.
With 13:27 remaining and his team face-to-face with No. 4 Villanova, Roberts called time out, to try to ward off “The Lull.” It didn’t work.
Villanova scored 10 straight to break open a tight game and claim an 81-71 win that was remarkably similar to the Johnnies’ 75-59 loss Wednesday at Connecticut.
St. John’s battled the Huskies for 30 minutes that night before the Red Storm starred in its own version of the movie “Groundhog Day.” Yesterday, “The Lull,” a Red Storm horror flick with seemingly unlimited sequels, played at the Garden.
The Storm led the Wildcats by as many as 11 points in the first half and shot a sizzling 56.5 percent from the field to lead 39-38 at halftime. But some seven minutes into the second half came, “The Lull,” a phenomenon the Johnnies can’t explain.
“If I knew the answer, I’d be able to tell you,” point guard Malik Boothe said. “But I don’t know the answer.”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” said a glum D.J. Kennedy.
What’s to tell? Just as UConn took charge Wednesday, Scottie Reynolds (19 points), Corey Fisher (18) and Maalik Wayns (16) took over for Villanova (18-1, 7-0 Big East), which won its ninth straight overall and its sixth straight over St. John’s.
Until that 10-0 Wildcats run, the Red Storm (12-7, 2-5) seemed poised to pull the same kind of upset that Villanova pulled on Kansas on Jan. 22, 2005, an 83-62 shocker that re-established the Wildcats as a big-time Big East program.
Villanova coach Jay Wright said he believes St. John’s is close, as they usually are for 30 minutes against elite league teams.
“You just gotta get that big one,” Wright said. “That’s what I said to our guys about this team. ‘They’re going to do it.’ We just don’t want it to be us.”
Power forward Justin Brownlee missed yesterday’s game to attend the funeral of his grandfather in Georgia. Anthony Mason Jr., making his first start of the season, scored 10 points with two boards, three steals, one assist, one block and three turnovers.
