There was so much uncertainty on how St. John’s would respond to their unspeakably awful 72-40 loss to UConn in the lead-up to Saturday’s game against Villanova. By the end of the night, it appeared like the result was always inevitable.
As he always seems to pull off following a terrible loss, Rick Pitino worked his team back into shape and made their last showing an afterthought. While the Hall of Fame head donned his eggshell-colored suit for “White Out” day in front of a sold-out Madison Square Garden crowd, the Red Storm broke even on their point differential this week and stood on the good side of a 32-point steamrolling this time with a 89-57 rout of the Wildcats. This was the largest margin of victory by St. John’s in their 156-game series history with Villanova.
All of the murmurs regarding the St. John’s offensive woes were silenced on Saturday. The Red Storm worked harmoniously, shooting 52.5% from the field and 8-of-15 from three, and combining for a season-high 26 assists. Any concerns about effort were also dashed, as the Johnnies pulled down 14 more rebounds than the Wildcats.
In the penultimate home game of his college career, Zuby Ejiofor rebounded from his dormant outing against the Huskies. The Red Storm’s big man logged a 16-point, 12-rebound, and 10-assist triple-double, the fourth confirmed time a St. John’s player accomplished such a feat in program history and the second in as many seasons.
St. John’s left no doubt in a game that played out similarly to their midweek thrashing by the Huskies. Villanova scored the opening basket, but quickly found themselves behind after an 11-0 run by the Red Storm. The Wildcats cut the Red Storm’s advantage to 15-11, but the Johnnies completely ran away with the lead by outscoring their opponents 33-7 to close the half with a 48-23 lead.
Bryce Lindsay’s three free throws on a late foul by Zuby Ejiofor right before the halftime buzzer were the easiest points the Wildcats scored in the first twenty minutes, as they were held to 7-of-27 shooting (25.9%) and went scoreless for almost six minutes at one point.
Ian Jackson scored a team-high 19 points and was the figurehead of the Red Storm’s lockdown performance, recording a career-high five steals on Saturday, including three pilfers in the first half.
Villanova came out of the second half hot, pulling within 17 points following a Tyler Perkins triple, but that was as close as they were ever going to come to St. John’s. The Red Storm closed out strong after missing their first eight of eleven attempts taken in the second half, making nine of their final 17 attempts.
The Red Storm will play their final regular-season home matchup on Tuesday, March 3, against the Georgetown Hoyas (13-16, 5-13 Big East). Before the contest, the program will honor seniors Zuby Ejiofor, Dillon Mitchell, Bryce Hopkins, Oziyah Sellers, Sadiku Ibine Ayo, and Handje Tamba. Tip-off from Madison Square Garden is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., and the game can be streamed on Peacock.
