No. 12/12 Villanova Pulls Away from St. John’s, 71-60

Wednesday, February 26

Villanova, Pa. (Finneran Pavilion)

6:30 p.m.

St. John's University

14-14,3-12Big E

Villanova

22-6,11-4Big Ea

St. John's

Villanova

No. 12/12 Villanova Pulls Away from St. John’s, 71-60

2/26/2020 9:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Rasheem Dunn and Marcellus Earlington lead the Red Storm with 12 points apiece on Wednesday at Finneran Pavilion

VILLANOVA, Pa. – Trailing by two with eight minutes to play, St. John's could not keep pace with No. 12/12 Villanova down the stretch, as the Wildcats won their fifth straight decision, 71-60, at Finneran Pavilion on Wednesday.

Saddiq Bey scored 23 points to lead Villanova (22-6, 11-4 BIG EAST) while freshman Justin Moore added 21.

Four Johnnies finished in double figures for St. John's (14-14, 3-12 BIG EAST). Rasheem Dunn and Marcellus Earlington scored 12 apiece while Julian Champagnie and Greg Williams Jr. added 10 each.

Dunn tallied a game-high five assists while Champagnie led the team with six boards, three steals and a pair of blocks.

St. John's committed a season-low four turnovers for the second time in the team's last three games.

Villanova found the bottom of the bucket early and often, hitting five of its first eight field goal tries, including a 4-for-6 effort from deep, to take a 14-4 lead at the game's first media timeout.

Trailing by nine, 21-12, near the midway mark of the half, St. John's held the Wildcats without a point for more than three minutes, pulling within three, 21-18, following six straight points from Earlington. The sophomore tallied his half-dozen points in a variety of ways on the run, sinking a driving layup, a baseline jumper and a pair of free throws.

Down 13, 35-22, the Red Storm rattled off 10 unanswered points to make it a one-possession game with a minute to go. The Johnnies converted defense into offense on the spurt, forcing misses on seven straight Villanova possessions, including four turnovers.

On the Red Storm's final possession of the half, Dunn banked in a circus shot through contact, pulling the Johnnies within two, 36-34, at the break.

Champagnie tipped in a lob from Dunn on the first possession of the second half, quickly knotting the score at 36 apiece. The Wildcats promptly answered with 10 straight points to retake a commanding double-digit lead with less than four minutes gone in the period.

The Johnnies would not go quietly, trimming the Villanova lead down to two, 53-51, following an old-fashioned three-point play from Dunn with eight minutes to go. From there, the Wildcats outscored St. John's, 9-1, over the next three minutes with seven of those points coming off free throws from Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.

The Wildcats continued to build on their lead down the stretch, pulling ahead by as many as 13 in the final two minutes of play.

The Johnnies will return to action on Sunday when they welcome No. 10/11 Creighton to Carnesecca Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m. on FS1 and 970 AM WNYM.