St. John's University Athletics
Tuesday, January 28
New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)
6:30 p.m.
St. John's University
13-9,2-7BE
59
vs
79
Villanova
17-3,7-1BE
1
2
F
Villanova
39
40
79
St. John's
26
33
59
St. John’s Falls to No. 8/10 Villanova
1/28/2020 9:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Rasheem Dunn Recorded a Season-High 24 Points in Setback at MSG
NEW YORK – Taking on the nation's eighth ranked team on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, St. John's proved unable to withstand the Wildcats' offensive onslaught as the defending BIG EAST champs prevailed, 79-59.
Rasheem Dunn was a bright spot for the Red Storm (13-9, 2-7 BIG EAST), posting a season-high 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting. The Thomas Jefferson High School product finished just one point shy of his career high set in December of 2017 while playing for St. Francis Brooklyn. Dunn also led the squad with five boards and four assists.
LJ Figueroa was the only other Johnnie to finish in double figures, scoring 12 points to go along with five rebounds.
The Wildcats (17-3, 7-1 BIG EAST) shot 47.5 percent from the floor and connected on 12 3-pointers. Villanova also committed just 13 turnovers and won the rebounding battle, 40-31.
Villanova struggled to find the bottom of the bucket early, as the Wildcats missed their first seven field goal attempts and the Johnnies jumped ahead, 8-1, after three minutes of action.
Villanova tied it at 15 with 12 minutes to go before back-to-back buckets from Nick Rutherford and Marcellus Earlington put the Johnnies ahead by four and forced a Wildcats timeout. After the stoppage, Villanova scored on three of its next four possessions to take a four-point lead, 23-19, with just over seven minutes remaining in the opening period.
The Johnnies remained scoreless over the next two and a half minutes, as the Wildcats extended their run to 13-0 and moved ahead by as many as nine with just under five minutes remaining in the half.
Trailing 30-24 at the period's last media timeout, St. John's saw the Wildcats extend their lead on the other side of the stoppage, closing the half on a 9-2 run and taking a 39-26 advantage into the locker room.
The Red Storm sliced into the Villanova advantage on the other side of the break, moving within single digits, 42-33, following a Dunn triple with just over two minutes gone in the period.
After another Dunn trey cut the deficit to eight, 46-38, with 14:30 to play, the Red Storm came up with a backcourt steal but missed a layup that would have made it a two-possession game. Villanova quickly knocked down a 3-pointer on the other end to move back ahead by 11.
The Wildcats led by as many as 24 before closing out their 20-point victory.
The Red Storm will be back in action at Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon, playing host to Georgetown in a 1 p.m. matinee.
Rasheem Dunn was a bright spot for the Red Storm (13-9, 2-7 BIG EAST), posting a season-high 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting. The Thomas Jefferson High School product finished just one point shy of his career high set in December of 2017 while playing for St. Francis Brooklyn. Dunn also led the squad with five boards and four assists.
LJ Figueroa was the only other Johnnie to finish in double figures, scoring 12 points to go along with five rebounds.
The Wildcats (17-3, 7-1 BIG EAST) shot 47.5 percent from the floor and connected on 12 3-pointers. Villanova also committed just 13 turnovers and won the rebounding battle, 40-31.
Villanova struggled to find the bottom of the bucket early, as the Wildcats missed their first seven field goal attempts and the Johnnies jumped ahead, 8-1, after three minutes of action.
Villanova tied it at 15 with 12 minutes to go before back-to-back buckets from Nick Rutherford and Marcellus Earlington put the Johnnies ahead by four and forced a Wildcats timeout. After the stoppage, Villanova scored on three of its next four possessions to take a four-point lead, 23-19, with just over seven minutes remaining in the opening period.
The Johnnies remained scoreless over the next two and a half minutes, as the Wildcats extended their run to 13-0 and moved ahead by as many as nine with just under five minutes remaining in the half.
Trailing 30-24 at the period's last media timeout, St. John's saw the Wildcats extend their lead on the other side of the stoppage, closing the half on a 9-2 run and taking a 39-26 advantage into the locker room.
The Red Storm sliced into the Villanova advantage on the other side of the break, moving within single digits, 42-33, following a Dunn triple with just over two minutes gone in the period.
After another Dunn trey cut the deficit to eight, 46-38, with 14:30 to play, the Red Storm came up with a backcourt steal but missed a layup that would have made it a two-possession game. Villanova quickly knocked down a 3-pointer on the other end to move back ahead by 11.
The Wildcats led by as many as 24 before closing out their 20-point victory.
The Red Storm will be back in action at Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon, playing host to Georgetown in a 1 p.m. matinee.
Team Stats
VU
SJU
FG%
.475
.410
3FG%
.414
.316
FT%
.692
.750
RB
40
31
TO
13
13
STL
7
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
24
FGM
10
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
Guard
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/ Men's BasketballGuard/Forward
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