RJ Luis Jr. Explodes for 30 Points to Lead RV/RV St. John’s Past Villanova at Madison Square Garden, 80-68

Saturday, January 11

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

7 p.m.

St. John's University

14-3,5-1Big East

Villanova

11-6,4-2Big East

Villanova

St. John's (NY)

RJ Luis Jr. Explodes for 30 Points to Lead RV/RV St. John’s Past Villanova at Madison Square Garden, 80-68

1/11/2025 11:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Red Storm off to a 5-1 start in BIG EAST play for the first time since 2000-01

NEW YORK – Fueled by an explosive 30-point performance from RJ Luis Jr., the RV/RV  St. John's men's basketball team (14-3, 5-1 BIG EAST) outlasted Villanova (11-6, 5-2 BIG EAST) to move to 5-1 in BIG EAST play for the first time in 24 years.

The two sides went back and forth on Saturday night in front of a raucous Madison Square Garden crowd of 18,178, as the contest featured six ties and 18 lead changes. The Red Storm ended the game on a 14-3 run to pull away and earn a double-digit victory at the World's Most Famous Arena.

The Johnnies have won nine of their last 10 games and are off to a 5-1 start in conference play for the first time in 24 years. The Red Storm move to 11-0 at home this season and is one of five teams in NCAA Division I to log 11 or more wins on its own court this season.

Luis Jr. shined under the bright MSG lights, going off for a season-high 30 points, just one shy of his career-high. The Miami native went 16-for-20 (80%) from the free throw line, marking the most made free throws by a St. John's player since Marcus Hatten made a program-record 21 on Feb. 9, 2002, against UConn. The junior's 16 makes from the charity stripe tie for fourth-most in program history.  The wing recorded his third straight double-double pulling down 10 rebounds and scored 23 of his 30 points in the second half. Luis Jr.'s 30-point game was the first by a Johnnie since Julian Champagnie had 31 against Butler on Feb. 18, 2022.

Zuby Ejiofor posted 11 points and nine rebounds in the winning effort. The big man shot 7-for-11 from the free-throw line. Deivon Smith tallied 12 first-half points and made three triples. Aaron Scott was the fourth St. John's player to finish in double-figures, logging 12 points in 39 minutes of action.

St. John's made 29 free throws on Saturday night, the program's most since it made the same number in a win over Wagner on Nov. 15, 2013. The Red Storm dominated the glass, outrebounding the Wildcats, 44-28. Over its last two games, the Johnnies are outrebounding their opponents by a plus-18 margin and are averaging 18.5 offensive boards during that span.

Villanova's Wooga Poplar paced the Wildcats with 22 points in Midtown Manhattan. The nation's leading scorer coming into the game, Eric Dixon, finished with 18 points.

In the early going, the Johnnies and Villanova exchanged blows until back-to-back 3-pointers from Smith pulled the Red Storm ahead by two, 13-11, at 13:48. The Red Storm also knocked down four of its first six makes from beyond the arc with the senior guard knocking down three of them.

Smith continued to apply pressure despite Villanova going 5-for-7 from distance to open the game. The Decatur, Ga., native drew contact in the paint and completed the and-one in traffic to tie the game at 19. Simeon Wilcher sent The Garden faithful into a frenzy after a pulverizing one-handed slam to give the Johnnies the lead, 21-19, at 9:55.

            The two sides continued to go back and forth in the latter part of the opening half until Ejiofor propelled St. John's into the break with a five-point edge, 36-31. The Johnnies' big man finished the frame with eight of the team's final 12 points, including a 4-for-4 mark from the charity stripe.

The Wildcats opened the second half on a 10-2 run to regain the lead before the Red Storm halted the stretch with a fastbreak dunk from Scott, followed by a 3-pointer from Luis Jr. to take back a 45-44 edge with 13:22 remaining in regulation.

As the two squads remained neck-and-neck, Scott responded to a Villanova 3-pointer with one of his own to make it a one-point game, 51-50, with 8:57 to play. Kadary Richmond came up clutch with a three-point play followed by a mid-range jumper to give St. John's control, 55-54, with 7:47 to go.

With the score tied for the sixth time at 61, after Luis Jr. made a free throw, Wilcher came up with a pivotal steal and finished at the rim on the break to give the Red Storm a three-point lead, 64-61.

After a Poplar slam brought Villanova within a single-point, 66-65, with 2:35 to play. Wilcher came up with a crucial mid-range jumper to jumpstart a 9-0 run to put the game out of reach. The Red Storm defense locked down Villanova not allowing the visitors to make a field goal the rest of the way. The Johnnies sealed the victory from the charity stripe, recording 12 makes over the final two minutes to earn St. John's third-straight win over the Wildcats for the first time since 1999-2001.

St. John's will return to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night to face Georgetown at 7:30 p.m. The BIG EAST battle from the World's Most Famous Arena will be streamed on Peacock.