St. John’s Falls to Villanova, 57-49

Friday, January 20

New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

13-7,3-6Big East

Villanova

10-10,4-5Big East

Villanova

St. John's (NY)

1/20/2023 10:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Joel Soriano led the Red Storm with 14 points and 16 rebounds on Friday at MSG

NEW YORK – The St. John's men's basketball team fell to Villanova, 57-49, in its 2023 debut at Madison Square Garden on Friday.

For the sixth-straight game and an NCAA-leading 17^th time this season, Joel Soriano produced a double-double to lead St. John's (13-7, 3-6 BIG EAST). The Yonkers native rattled off 14 points and shot 6-for-8 from the free-throw line to go with a game-high 16 rebounds.

Villanova (10-10, 4-5 BIG EAST) was led by Caleb Daniels who scored a game-high 16 points and buried four 3-pointers. Eric Dixon finished with seven points and a team-high 11 rebounds while Brandon Slater added 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting for the Wildcats.

Neither team led by more than three points in the first 20 minutes of action, as the squads entered the break locked at 28. Seven different Johnnies found the bottom of the net in the first half with Dylan Addae-Wusu leading the way, scoring 10 of his 12 points in the stanza.

Villanova sank seven 3-pointers on nine made field goals in the opening half. Chris Arcidiacono and Daniels hit three triples apiece while combining for 20 points in the first half.

In the second half, Soriano rattled off the first seven points for the Johnnies, helping the St. John's take a 35-32 edge with 14:46 to go. After a Daniels' triple, Addae-Wusu regained the lead for St. John's at the rim to spark a 9-3 spurt capped by an AJ Storr triple that gave the Red Storm its largest lead of the game, 44-38, with 8:32 remaining.

Slater tallied all 14 of his points in the second half, helping the Wildcats back into the mix with a three-point play as part of a 9-0 run to give Villanova a 51-46 advantage. Soriano answered with a dunk with just over two minutes to play to get within three before the Wildcats scored six of the game's final seven points.

St. John's returns to action on Wednesday when the Johnnies travel to Omaha for a matchup at Creighton. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.