No. 24/23 St. John’s Falls at Villanova, 76-71

Tuesday, January 8

Villanova, Pa. (Finneran Pavilion)

7:00 p.m.

St. John's University

14-2, 2-2

Villanova

12-4, 3-0

St. John's

Villanova

1/8/2019 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Johnnies outscored 14-4 in the final four minutes of the contest

Leading the defending national champions by five with 4:07 to go, the No. 24/23 St. John's men's basketball team suffered a late scoring drought, as Villanova prevailed 76-71 at Finneran Pavilion on Tuesday night.

Leading 67-62 with just over four minutes to play, St. John's went without a point for more than three minutes and Villanova scored 10 straight to take the final lead in a back-and-forth affair.

Shamorie Ponds led the way for St. John's with 23 points and six assists. The reigning BIG EAST and national player of the week also registered two steals.

LJ Figueroa and Justin Simon also finished in double figures for the Red Storm. Figueroa scored 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including a 4-for-6 showing from long distance. The former junior college All-American also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. Simon stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, nine assists and six rebounds. His nine helpers marked a season high for Simon and were just one off his career-best total of 10 set last year at Seton Hall.

Mustapha Heron and Marvin Clark II chipped in eight points apiece for St. John's.

Veterans Eric Paschall (25) and Phil Booth (23) paced the Wildcats, combining for 48 of the team's 76 points. Booth scored 15 of his 23 in the latter stanza, including seven-straight during Villanova's crucial late-game run.

The Red Storm came out of the gate firing, starting the game on a 14-2 spurt. The Johnnies connected on four-straight triples to cap the run, as Figueroa and Heron each hit twice from deep.

Villanova responded with five unanswered, but the Johnnies quickly struck back with two more treys, bumping their lead to 13, 20-7, on consecutive Ponds 3-pointers.

The Wildcats fought back with a 15-4 run over the next six minutes, pulling within two, 24-22, with just under eight minutes to go in the period.

Up 26-24, the Johnnies unleashed 8-0 run to pull back ahead by double digits with 4:49 remaining until the break. Clark II and Figueroa each connected from deep on the tear.

Leading by that same 10-point margin with two minutes to play in the period, St. John's saw Villanova trim its deficit to five, 39-34, heading into the locker room.

The Johnnies scored the first four points of the latter stanza as part of an 11-5 run to open the half, moving ahead by 11, 50-39, on a Simon jumper less than three minutes into the period.

The Wildcats quickly responded with 12 unanswered to take their first lead of the game, 51-50, with 14:27 to go.

Facing its first deficit of the evening, St. John's held Villanova scoreless for the next 4:40, outscoring the Wildcats 9-0 and reclaiming an eight-point lead, 59-51, near the midway mark of the half.

Then, the game of runs continued, as Villanova rattled off the game's next seven points to pull back within one, 59-58, with seven minutes remaining.

With the game tied at 62 and five minutes to play, Bryan Trimble Jr. nailed a triple before a Simon driving lay-in put the Red Storm ahead by five. From there, the Wildcats held St. John's without a field goal for the next 3:28, reclaiming a lead that they would not relinquish.

St. John's returns to Carnesecca Arena on Saturday evening, playing host to DePaul for a 6 p.m. contest on CBS Sports Network and 570 AM WMCA.