RV/RV St. John’s Prevails at RV/RV Villanova, 86-79

Saturday, January 17

Philadelphia, Pa (Xfinity Mobile Arena)

8 p.m.

St. John's University

13-5,6-1Big East

Villanova

14-4,5-2Big East

St. John's (NY)

Villanova

RV/RV St. John’s Prevails at RV/RV Villanova, 86-79

1/17/2026 11:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Red Storm men’s basketball team tallies fourth straight BIG EAST victory to claim sole possession of second place

PHILADELPHIA - The RV/RV St. John's men's basketball team prevailed in a tough road environment at Villanova, 86-79, on Saturday to record its fourth-straight BIG EAST victory.

Leading by one at the half, the Red Storm opened the latter stanza on a 20-4 run to lead by as many as 17. Villanova stormed back to cut the deficit to five on two separate occasions, but the Johnnies made key plays down the stretch to hold on for a victory at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

St. John's (13-5, 6-1 BIG EAST) has now captured seven straight BIG EAST road wins, dating back to last season, marking the second longest streak in the school's history. The Red Storm has started a season 4-0 away from home for the first time since the 1982-83 campaign, when St. John's won its first six on the road.

With Saturday's victory, St. John's moves to 6-1 in conference play for the second straight year and claimed sole possession of second place in the BIG EAST standings. The Johnnies have now tallied three Quad 1 victories over an 11-day span.

Bryce Hopkins netted a team-high 22 points for his third 20-plus outing of the season and first since defeating Baylor on Nov. 25. The graduate student shot 8-for-10 (80.0 percent) and chipped in six boards in a season-high 36 minutes. The Oak Park Ill., native added 13 points and went 7-for-7 from the line over the final 20 minutes.

Dillon Mitchell racked up his second double-double of the season finishing with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Ian Jackson went for 18 points, his second highest scoring total of the season on 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) from field goal range.

Zuby Ejiofor was the fourth Red Storm player to reach double-digits totaling 15 points and seven rebounds. The big man has reached double figures in scoring for the eighth straight game.

Villanova's (14-4, 5-2 BIG EAST) Tyler Perkins led all scorers in Philadelphia with 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Devin Askew added 21 points.

Jackson opened the scoring with a one-handed jam through contact to complete the 3-point play. As the two teams traded baskets in the early going, Jackson added seven of the Johnnies first 11 points of the night. The sophomore assisted on an Ejiofor triple to knot the scoreline at 14-14 with 12:44 left in the first half.

Later in the opening stanza as the two longtime BIG EAST foes remained neck and neck, Sadiku Ibine Ayo swished a long two-point jumper and Hopkins finished on the fastbreak with a spin move to the rim to grow a five-point Red Storm lead, 27-22, with 8:17 left in the half. Hopkins' lay-in marked a stretch of six made field goals on eight attempts for the Johnnies. Ejiofor rocked the rim with a ferocious dunk off the paint feed from, his fellow captain Ibine Ayo at the 6:40 mark, 29-26.

In the final five minutes of the first period, Mitchell drained a pair of free throws to bring the St. John's advantage to seven, 35-28, the largest lead by either team in the opening 20 minutes. The Wildcats clawed back into the game as Askew's triple with 43 seconds left in the half trimmed the Red Storm's edge to a single-point, 36-35.

In the second half, Jackson continued his success driving to the right-side of the basket on back-to-back possessions. Oziyah Sellers bottomed a fadeaway mid-range before another Jackson finish in the paint concluded a 13-4 run to start the half as the St. John's expanded to double-digits, 49-39, forcing a Villanova timeout with 15:12 to go. Out of the timeout, Jackson knocked down a 3-pointer and lay-ins from Hopkins and Sellers closed out an 11-0 scoring spurt as the lead ballooned to 17, 56-39. St. John's scored on 12 of its first 13 possessions to begin the latter stanza.

The Wildcats responded with a 12-3 run cutting the deficit to seven after a Tyler Perkins corner triple, 66-59, with 8:13 on the clock. After St. John's talked it over, Joson Sanon quieted the crowd with a triple from the top of the key to spring the Red Storm cushion back to double-figures, 69-59.

Villanova refused to go down without a fight climbing back as Perkins swished a mid-range to make it a 69-64 contest with 6:36 remaining in the game. Ejiofor fought for an offensive board and willed his way to a lay-up. Sanon buried an open triple of the corner to push the Red Storm lead back to 11, 77-66, at the 4:07 mark.

The Wildcats fought back once again engineering a 7-0 run to get within five points for the second time in the final seven minutes of the contest. Ahead by five in the final minute, Hopkins dished to an open Ejiofor in the post for a lay-up to put the game away, 82-75, with 33 seconds remaining.

St. John's will return to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday when it hosts No. 25/RV Seton Hall for a BIG EAST rivalry game at 7 p.m. on FS1.