It was just five weeks ago, but it feels much longer, as if it were another season. St. John’s was ranked at the time, and was leading at Villanova by 13 points in the first half.
The Red Storm had won consecutive league games over Marquette and Georgetown, and it didn’t seem farfetched for them to challenge for the league title.
The Johnnies were playing that well — until they weren’t. They failed to close that game, falling by five points after outplaying the Wildcats for 36 minutes, and they haven’t been over .500 in the Big East since.
Late Sunday afternoon at the Garden, St. John’s gets another chance to make that statement against Villanova. With a win, the Johnnies would get back over .500 in the conference, all but lock up an NCAA Tournament bid and improve to 3-1 against the two big boys in the conference, the No. 13 Wildcats and No. 10 Marquette.
“That is why I came here. That was the ultimate goal. Come here and help bring this program back to prominence,” senior Marvin Clark II said. “Obviously, we are not done yet, but I can see the horizon. We are getting there. I can see the lights, we just have to finish it up. ”
That means beating Villanova in front of what is expected to be a sold-out crowd, slaying the team that has owned the league for the past six seasons.
St. John’s (18-7, 6-6 Big East) did stun the eventual national champions on the road last year, in what can be argued was the biggest win of head coach Chris Mullin’s era, but the Red Storm haven’t knocked off the Wildcats at the Garden in 17 years, losing 12 in a row.
Significant to an upset would be the play of junior wing Mustapha Heron. He was a non-factor in the first meeting this season, scoring just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting after getting into early foul trouble.
The Auburn transfer, however, is playing his best basketball at the right time. After missing a Feb. 9 loss at the Garden to Providence with a bruised right knee, Heron scored a season-high 28 points Tuesday in a win over Butler, and he has reached double figures in eight straight games.
“Butler was my night,” Heron said. “Over the last few games, I’ve been trying to get more aggressive. The team put me in good positions and I was able to get buckets.”
The Red Storm’s play over the past few weeks illustrates what can be so frustrating about them: Consistency has eluded them.
St. John’s won at Creighton and Marquette, only to lose by 14 at home to Providence, which is tied for last place in the conference, and to go up big on Butler but to need overtime to prevail.
“During certain games we have been two different teams and I think [our players] know that,” Mullin said. “They know the difference. We are trying to bring that energetic resilient group on Sunday.”
Villanova, lacking a prototypical big man, won’t give undersized St. John’s the same problems other teams in the league can in the paint. The Wildcats also don’t have the kind of lockdown defender they have had in past years.
“I think we match up pretty well [with them], actually,” Heron said.
The first game between the two teams showcased that. St. John’s now has to do what it couldn’t in early January: finish.
St. John’s will host four-star verbal commit Nate Tabor for the game, along with local recruits C.J. Wilcher, Andre Curbelo, Moussa Cisse and R.J. Davis.
