St. John’s Rolls Past Villanova
NEW YORK (Jan. 24, 2024) – St. John’s center Joel Soriano scored 15 of his game-high 21 points in the second half to help lead the Red Storm to a 70-50 victory over Villanova (11-8, 4-4) on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. With the win, St. John’s (13-7, 5-4) completed the regular season sweep of the Wildcats for the first time since the 1992-93 season.
Soriano shot 8-for-9 from the field and went 5-for-7 from the free-throw line in his seventh 20-point performance of the season. The Yonkers native also grabbed nine rebounds in 29 minutes of action.
Jordan Dingle (12) and Glenn Taylor Jr. (9) also gave the Red Storm a boost, combining for 21 of the team’s 26 points off the bench. Dingle, who missed the previous two games due to illness, shot 6-for-8 inside the 3-point arc, while also grabbing four rebounds and dishing out four assists in 24 minutes.
As a team, St. John’s dominated the glass, outrebounding the Wildcats, 42-23. The Johnnies also held the Wildcats to season-lows with 50 points and shooting 16.0 percent (4-25 3FG) from 3-point territory. The 20-point margin of victory was St. John’s largest over Villanova since Jan. 25, 1998, when the Red Storm rallied to an 82-59 win at MSG.
St. John’s took control of the game early and only trailed for 40 seconds in the contest. The Red Storm went on 15-2 run beginning with Taylor’s 3-pointer at the 11-minute mark and surged out to a 28-13 advantage. Dingle helped power the spurt with a pair of buckets. Drissa Traore also provided energy off the bench with a key sequence where he blocked Mark Armstrong at the rim and then buried a triple from the corner on the opposite end of the floor. Soriano’s putback at the 6:42 mark capped the run and gave St. John’s a 15-point advantage.
Villanova trimmed its deficit to as few as eight in the first half, but freshman Simeon Wilcher, who made his first collegiate start, scored the final four Red Storm points to reclaim a double-digit lead, 32-22, by intermission. The Johnnies sank four of their five 3-pointers in the first half and limited Villanova to 8-for-22 (36.4 pct) shooting from the field.
Eric Dixon and TJ Bamba scored 11 of Villanova’s first 13 points in the second half before Hakim Hart’s layup at the 12:46 mark made it a 40-35 ballgame. However, St. John’s unleashed an 11-0 run minutes later to put the game out of reach. Soriano scored the first five points of the offensive spurt, including a 3-point play that energized The Garden crowd. Zuby Ejiofor’s layup followed by a jumper from RJ Luis Jr. pushed the Red Storm out to a 56-39 advantage with 5:44 remaining.
St. John’s led by as many as 22 points down the stretch and held the Wildcats to just a pair of field goals in the final five minutes of the game.
Dixon and Bamba led Villanova with 16 points and 12 points, respectively.
The Red Storm dished out 17 assists with Daniss Jenkins leading the way with six helpers. St. John’s also scored 18 points off Villanova’s 11 turnovers.
The Johnnies return to action on Jan. 31 for a matchup at Xavier. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. inside the Cintas Center in Cincinnati.