Narrow losses frustrate St. John's with Villanova up next

Field Level Media|published: Tue 23rd January, 19:05 2024

Jan 20, 2024; New York, New York, USA; St. John's Red Storm guard RJ Luis Jr. (12) and Marquette Golden Eagles guard Tyler Kolek (11) fight for a loose ball in the second half at Madison Square Garden. credits: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

St. John's earned a rare road win at Villanova on Jan. 6 and then followed it up by edging visiting Providence by two points.

Since then, the Red Storm have produced three straight frustrating performances and they hope to avoid a fourth consecutive loss Wednesday night when Villanova comes to Madison Square Garden in New York.

The Red Storm (12-7, 4-4 Big East) are attempting to avoid falling under .500 in the league after sandwiching close losses to ranked foes Creighton and Marquette around a horrific performance at Seton Hall.

After allowing 28 straight points in an 80-65 defeat at Seton Hall on Jan. 16, the Red Storm nearly erased a 13-point deficit in the final 6:20 before taking a 73-72 loss to Marquette on Saturday.

It was the third conference loss by four points or fewer for the Red Storm, who fell by four points at UConn on Dec. 23 and by one at Creighton on Jan. 13. St. John's allowed Marquette to shoot 75 percent (18 of 24) in the second half after the Red Storm had a 10-point lead shortly before halftime.

RJ Luis Jr. scored a season-high 20 points and Daniss Jenkins scored eight of his 17 points in the game-ending run before missing a free throw and a game-winning 3-point try.

"It's really tough, another loss by one point," Luis said. "If we were locked in on one more possession, we could've won the game. We really needed that win and we couldn't get it."

Villanova (11-7, 4-3) can relate to what St. John's has endured. Starting with their 10-point loss to St. John's in the first meeting, the Wildcats are 1-3 in their past four with the only win coming by 25 points against DePaul.

After taking a 13-point setback at Marquette on Jan. 15, Villanova was handed a 66-65 home loss by No. 1 UConn on Saturday. The Wildcats allowed the game's first 11 points and also committed two key offensive fouls in the final minutes.

"I bet there were maybe 20 things we could have done better throughout the game," Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said after his team shot nearly 45 percent from the floor but missed 16 of 23 3-point tries.

T.J. Bamba and Justin Moore scored 15 points apiece, but Mark Armstong was held to nine after getting 24 in the loss at Marquette. Eric Dixon also was held to nine after scoring in double figures in his previous six games.

—Field Level Media