St. John's falls to Villanova on Tyler Perkins' late three as win streak ends at 10
St. John's Aaron Scott, right, goes up for a shot against Villanova's Tyler Perkins during the first half of an NCAA men's basketball game on Wednesday in Villanova, Pa. Credit: AP/Matt Slocum
VILLANOVA, Pa. — The wait felt almost interminable.
Ninth-ranked St. John’s was engaged in a Big East battle with Villanova for some 30 minutes, but the authentic Red Storm really hadn’t appeared. That team had piled up 10 straight wins and climbed the national polls by defending to the teeth and not letting foes get in for layups. They had sealed off the three-point line. And most important, their voracious rebounding didn’t allow opponents second chances.
The real thing finally appeared with about 10 minutes and St. John’s down 11, but came up a couple of plays short. Simeon Wilcher made a three-pointer 27.3 seconds left for a one-point lead, but on the other end Tyler Perkins answered with a three-pointer with 8.7 seconds left to give Villanova a 73-71 victory before a sellout crowd of 6,501 at Finneran Pavilion.
St. John’s (21-4, 12-2) did get a final chance to win it, But a Wilcher three-pointer just missed the mark. St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said it was the shot he wanted.
“It was a clean look,” Wilcher said. “I just didn’t make it.”
“A tough loss for us,” Pitino said. “Really, it wasn’t about missing shots or making shots, because made a lot of terrific shots with one second on [the shot clock]. But twice we didn’t block out, and it cost us the game. That’s been a weakness of ours and it finally bit us in the ass.”
Villanova did make three three-pointers just before the clock expired. The rebounds that irked Pitino came with 4:31 by Jordan Longino to set up an Eric Dixon three-pointer for a 65-62 lead and another by Boakye Enoch that helped Longino draw a foul and make two free throws with 2:40 left.
The loss wasn’t the only piece of bad news for the Red Storm, who have lost four games by a total of seven points. Guard Deivon Smith was in street clothes for the contest, still not fully recovered from the right shoulder injury he suffered a month ago and now bothered by something Pitino likened to a pinched nerve in his neck. Pitino said there is no timetable for a return.
“I think he’s done for the season,” Pitino said. “In my opinion, he’s going to be. We need to get him healthy and I think the longer he stays out, the better it is for us. . . . He’s just not the same player he was a month ago, and we’ve got to get him healthy. So he’s probably going to be out for a while.”
Aaron Scott had 22 points, Kadary Richmond had 17 points and 10 assists and RJ Luis Jr. and Wilcher each had 12 points for St. John’s. Villanova dared the Red Strom to beat them on three-pointers and gave them plenty of looks as they took 37 — 10 more than in any other game — and made 11 (29.7%).
Villanova also was quick off the dribble to beat the Storm on points in the paint, 24-16.
Wooga Poplar had 22 points for Villanova (15-10, 8-6), which shot 53% for the game and 11-for-24 on three-pointers.
“t was just our defense,” Scott said. “We weren’t there defensively and, you know, that’s, that’s our identity.”
The ’Cats had a stretch when they made nine of 13 shots to grab an 11-point lead with just under 10 minutes to play. That’s when the St. John’s team people have come to recognize appeared. It reeled off 14 unanswered points for a 62-59 lead, capped by Luis’ dunk off an offensive rebound.
Villanova found itself looking into the same press that the Storm used to beat UConn on Friday night, but found ways through, twice on possessions that ended with Eric Dixon, the nation’s leading scorer, making long three-pointers before the shot clock expired.
But when Dixon had a chance to make it a two-possession game after getting fouled with 40.6 seconds left, he missed the front end of a one-and-one. Luis rebounded it and Kadary Richmond found Simeon Wilcher coming off a curl for a three-pointer and a 71-70 lead with 27.9 seconds left.
Perkins had the final answer.
Seton Hall game to MSG
Due to demand for tickets, St. John’s has moved its final home game against Seton Hall from Carnesecca Arena to Madison Square Garden. The March 1 contest will be played at 2:15 p.m. and will air nationally on CBS. Before the game, the school will have its Senior Day, where members of the program are recognized before their final home game. The game against the Pirates will be the Red Storm’s ninth home game at the Garden. They last played nine Garden dates during 2014-15 before their last appearance in the NCAA Tournament main draw of 64.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
