St. John's University Athletics
Wednesday, February 12
Villanova, Pa. (Finneran Pavilion)
6 p.m.
St. John's University
at
Villanova
No. 9/8 St. John’s Visits Villanova on Wednesday Night
2/11/2025 3:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Red Storm men’s basketball team cracked the top-10 in the AP poll on Monday and ride a 10-game winning streak into Finneran Pavilion
QUEENS, N.Y. – After cracking the top-10 in the Associated Press poll for the first time since the end of the 1999-2000 season, the No. 9/8 St. John's men's basketball team (21-3, 12-1 BIG EAST) will visit Villanova (14-10, 7-6 BIG EAST) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. inside Finneran Pavilion.
The Red Storm will take on its most frequently faced opponent for the 133rd time in series history. FS1 will carry the national telecast with John Fanta and Bill Raftery will be on the call from the Keystone State. Live stats will be available on RedStormSports.com.
An audio broadcast of the game on the LEARFIELD Red Storm Sports Network with John Minko and Vin Parise will also be available on a variety of platforms including the Varsity Network App, TuneIn Radio, RedStormSports.com and the St. John's Red Storm mobile app. The radio broadcast can also be heard on SiriusXM radio channel 211 and via the SiriusXM App.
Riding a 10-game winning streak, the program's longest during BIG EAST competition since 1984-85, the Red Storm continued to ascend in the national polls, rising to No. 9 in the AP poll and No. 8 in the USA Today Coaches' poll. St. John's will play its first regular season game as an AP top-10 team since Feb. 27, 1999, when it also faced Villanova at Finneran Pavilion, the Wildcats won, 66-60.
The Johnnies are coming off consecutive wins over top-20 opponents after downing then-No. 11/11 Marquette and then-No. 19/18 UConn. It marked the program's first back-to-back wins over AP top-20 ranked teams since 2018 and the first pair of wins in the same week since 2006.
Since the turn of the calendar year, the Johnnies have rattled of 10 wins in a row dating back to Jan. 4, which ranks the most active consecutive victories amongst high major programs and tied for second most in country trailing only Akron (11). St. John's is one six teams in teams in the country to tally 21 or more wins as of Feb. 9 and have already exceeded its win total from last season (20) in the second year under Head Coach Rick Pitino through just 24 games. The Johnnies have also captured 17 straight regular season contests at home, which ranks the longest active stretch in the nation.
Through 13 games in conference play, the Red Storm is off to a 12-1 record in BIG EAST play and sits atop the conference standings with a one game lead over No. 24/21 Creighton. The 12 conference wins are the program's highest total since the 2010-11 campaign and will look to reach 13 for the first time since 1998-99, when it finished conference play with a 14-4 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. The Johnnies have been impressive defensively holding 11 of their 13 league opponents to 70 points or less.
St. John's ranks second in the nation in defensive efficiency allowing opponents to score just 87.9 points per 100 possessions according to the advance metrics of KenPom.com. The swarming unit has planted itself amongst the top of all NCAA Division I teams in a plethora of statistics. The Red Storm rank sixth in blocks per game (5.6), eighth in rebounds per game (41.2), 11th in turnover margin (+4.7), 12th in turnovers forced per game (16.0), 20th in steals per game (9.4), 28th in scoring defense (65.0) and 31st in rebound margin (+6.1).
In Friday's win at Gampel Pavilion, St. John's once again mounted a comeback with its back against the wall, trailing by 14 during the opening half. The Red Storm rallied back outscoring the Huskies, 56-36 over the final 31:38 in Storrs, Conn. The Johnnies have only trailed by double-digits in five games this season and have won all of them, including four during league play. St. John's holds a 7-1 overall record when trailing at halftime and ranks fourth in NCAA Division I in second half scoring margin at a mark of plus-8.0 over the final 20 minutes. The squad's three losses are a combined five points and boast a scoring margin of plus-13.5, which ranks 16th nationally and first in the BIG EAST.
RJ Luis Jr. earned national recognition this week, as he was named the Naismith Trophy, NCAA March Madness and BIG EAST Player of the Week. The junior averaged 19.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.0 rebounds during the wins over Marquette and UConn. On the year, the Miami native is averaging 17.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, both ranking top-six in the BIG EAST. In the first meeting against Villanova, the wing exploded for 30 points and made 16 free throws, which ranks fourth-most in a single-game in program history.
Kadary Richmond continues to make an impact, scoring in double-digits in each of his last 10 games. During the team's 10-game winning streak, the graduate student is averaging 14.0 points on 52.2 percent shooting from the floor, 5.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.5 steals per game. The Brooklyn native ranks third in the BIG EAST in steals per game (2.0) and sixth in assists per game (5.0).
The all-time series with Villanova is deadlocked 66-66. Last season, St. John's earned its first victory at Finneran Pavilion since 1993, 81-71, on Jan. 6, 2024. The Red Storm has won three straight over the Wildcats for the first time since 1999-2001 and is seeking four consecutive victories over its longtime conference foe since 1991-93. Earlier this season, the Johnnies tallied an 80-68 victory over Villanova at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 11.
Villanova enters the matchup with a 14-10 overall record and a 7-6 mark in BIG EAST play. The Wildcats moved back above .500 in conference play after a pair of victories last week over DePaul and Xavier. In its last time out against the Musketeers, the game was tied with 9:40 remaining before the Wildcats engineered a 24-12 run down the stretch to earn an 80-68 win at the Wells Fargo Center.
Villanova ranks third nationally in free throw percentage (80.9%) and fifth in 3-point percentage (39.9%). Eric Dixon, the nation's leading scorer, is averaging a blistering 23.8 points per game. The graduate student has tallied 18 20-plus point performances and three outings of 30 or more.
Following Wednesday's contest, St. John's will play its third top-25 matchup in its last four games when it hosts surging No. 24/21 Creighton at Madison Square Garden for a 3 p.m. tip-off on FS1.
The Red Storm will take on its most frequently faced opponent for the 133rd time in series history. FS1 will carry the national telecast with John Fanta and Bill Raftery will be on the call from the Keystone State. Live stats will be available on RedStormSports.com.
An audio broadcast of the game on the LEARFIELD Red Storm Sports Network with John Minko and Vin Parise will also be available on a variety of platforms including the Varsity Network App, TuneIn Radio, RedStormSports.com and the St. John's Red Storm mobile app. The radio broadcast can also be heard on SiriusXM radio channel 211 and via the SiriusXM App.
Riding a 10-game winning streak, the program's longest during BIG EAST competition since 1984-85, the Red Storm continued to ascend in the national polls, rising to No. 9 in the AP poll and No. 8 in the USA Today Coaches' poll. St. John's will play its first regular season game as an AP top-10 team since Feb. 27, 1999, when it also faced Villanova at Finneran Pavilion, the Wildcats won, 66-60.
The Johnnies are coming off consecutive wins over top-20 opponents after downing then-No. 11/11 Marquette and then-No. 19/18 UConn. It marked the program's first back-to-back wins over AP top-20 ranked teams since 2018 and the first pair of wins in the same week since 2006.
Since the turn of the calendar year, the Johnnies have rattled of 10 wins in a row dating back to Jan. 4, which ranks the most active consecutive victories amongst high major programs and tied for second most in country trailing only Akron (11). St. John's is one six teams in teams in the country to tally 21 or more wins as of Feb. 9 and have already exceeded its win total from last season (20) in the second year under Head Coach Rick Pitino through just 24 games. The Johnnies have also captured 17 straight regular season contests at home, which ranks the longest active stretch in the nation.
Through 13 games in conference play, the Red Storm is off to a 12-1 record in BIG EAST play and sits atop the conference standings with a one game lead over No. 24/21 Creighton. The 12 conference wins are the program's highest total since the 2010-11 campaign and will look to reach 13 for the first time since 1998-99, when it finished conference play with a 14-4 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. The Johnnies have been impressive defensively holding 11 of their 13 league opponents to 70 points or less.
St. John's ranks second in the nation in defensive efficiency allowing opponents to score just 87.9 points per 100 possessions according to the advance metrics of KenPom.com. The swarming unit has planted itself amongst the top of all NCAA Division I teams in a plethora of statistics. The Red Storm rank sixth in blocks per game (5.6), eighth in rebounds per game (41.2), 11th in turnover margin (+4.7), 12th in turnovers forced per game (16.0), 20th in steals per game (9.4), 28th in scoring defense (65.0) and 31st in rebound margin (+6.1).
In Friday's win at Gampel Pavilion, St. John's once again mounted a comeback with its back against the wall, trailing by 14 during the opening half. The Red Storm rallied back outscoring the Huskies, 56-36 over the final 31:38 in Storrs, Conn. The Johnnies have only trailed by double-digits in five games this season and have won all of them, including four during league play. St. John's holds a 7-1 overall record when trailing at halftime and ranks fourth in NCAA Division I in second half scoring margin at a mark of plus-8.0 over the final 20 minutes. The squad's three losses are a combined five points and boast a scoring margin of plus-13.5, which ranks 16th nationally and first in the BIG EAST.
RJ Luis Jr. earned national recognition this week, as he was named the Naismith Trophy, NCAA March Madness and BIG EAST Player of the Week. The junior averaged 19.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.0 rebounds during the wins over Marquette and UConn. On the year, the Miami native is averaging 17.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, both ranking top-six in the BIG EAST. In the first meeting against Villanova, the wing exploded for 30 points and made 16 free throws, which ranks fourth-most in a single-game in program history.
Kadary Richmond continues to make an impact, scoring in double-digits in each of his last 10 games. During the team's 10-game winning streak, the graduate student is averaging 14.0 points on 52.2 percent shooting from the floor, 5.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.5 steals per game. The Brooklyn native ranks third in the BIG EAST in steals per game (2.0) and sixth in assists per game (5.0).
The all-time series with Villanova is deadlocked 66-66. Last season, St. John's earned its first victory at Finneran Pavilion since 1993, 81-71, on Jan. 6, 2024. The Red Storm has won three straight over the Wildcats for the first time since 1999-2001 and is seeking four consecutive victories over its longtime conference foe since 1991-93. Earlier this season, the Johnnies tallied an 80-68 victory over Villanova at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 11.
Villanova enters the matchup with a 14-10 overall record and a 7-6 mark in BIG EAST play. The Wildcats moved back above .500 in conference play after a pair of victories last week over DePaul and Xavier. In its last time out against the Musketeers, the game was tied with 9:40 remaining before the Wildcats engineered a 24-12 run down the stretch to earn an 80-68 win at the Wells Fargo Center.
Villanova ranks third nationally in free throw percentage (80.9%) and fifth in 3-point percentage (39.9%). Eric Dixon, the nation's leading scorer, is averaging a blistering 23.8 points per game. The graduate student has tallied 18 20-plus point performances and three outings of 30 or more.
Following Wednesday's contest, St. John's will play its third top-25 matchup in its last four games when it hosts surging No. 24/21 Creighton at Madison Square Garden for a 3 p.m. tip-off on FS1.
Players Mentioned
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