By Anthony Bosco
In a game the St. John’s University men’s basketball team absolutely needed to sure up hope of an at-league bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Red Storm came out flat and looked clueless in the early going, digging themselves a hole so deep they would never totally climb out.
The host Villanova Wildcats (16-10, 7-7 Big East), employing a 2-3 zone defense against the young St. John’s team, ran out to a 19-point, 25-6 lead Sunday afternoon, with 6:56 remaining in the first half.
Yet St. John’s (14-12, 8-6 Big East) would battle back time and again, making a game of it for the national television audience, but never pulled even. The Red Storm tired late, allowing Villanova to run away with a 71-55 win.
“You can’t fall behind like we did,” said SJU head coach Mike Jarvis. “Too much energy was expended.”
It took nearly five minutes for St. John’s to finally get on the board, when Sharif Fordham finally stepped into a gap in the zone to drain a jumper. But by the time the Storm would score again Villanova would own a 13-2 lead and four more minutes would pass.
Two three-pointers by Gary Buchanan extended the lead to 19 before Jarvis finally took drastic measures, sitting starting point guard Omar Cook and applying a full-court press that rattled the Wildcats.
Forcing turnover after turnover, St. John’s rolled off nine straight points and got within 10 at halftime, 29-19.
The Red Storm threatened to overtake Villanova in the second half, all but erasing the massive deficit, when, down 14 with 18:49 remaining, the team rolled off 10 straight points, six by freshman shooting guard Willie Shaw, to make the score 34-30 with 16:51 remaining. Less than two minutes later Cook drained a three-pointer to make it a two-point game, 37-35.
But, as they would the remainder of the game, the Wildcats refused to fold.
An errant pass by Cook to Alpha Bangura squandered the team’s first chance to tie, prompting back-to-back Villanova baskets, making the score 43-37.
Moments later Anthony Glover and Reggie Jessie connected on consecutive field goals for the Storm, again pulling the team within two, 43-41, but Villanova responded again with baskets by Derrick Snowden and Reggie Bryant to retake a six-point lead.
Another Cook three at 8:19 and a Glover layup at 6:45 pulled St. John’s close again, 51-49, but that would be the last time St. John’s would get within striking distance.
Buchanan scored on a sweet feed by Michael Bradley at 6:22 and hit back-to-back threes over the next 1:10 to make it a 10-point game with 5:12 remaining.
With the press all but gone and the players exhausted, the Johnnies limped to the finish, allowing Villanova to outscore them 12-6 down the stretch.
“We were tired,” Cook said. “It took a lot for us to come back.”
The freshman out of Christ the King was taken out of the game by the Wildcats’ multiple defensive alignments, including the 2-3 zone, a box-and-one and a triangle-and-two, meant to limit Cook and backcourt mate Shaw.
Cook finished with just three assists on the game, six below his season average and tying a season low. He scored 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting, but turned the ball over six times.
Shaw led the Storm with 14 points, but was just 4-of-14 from the field, including 2-of-9 from three-point range. Glover finished with 12 points and six rebounds.
Villanova was led by Michael Bradley with 22 points. The 6-foot-11 Kentucky transfer, who leads the nation in field goal percentage, was 8-of-10 from the field and had a team-high 10 rebounds and five assists. Buchanan added 19 and Snowden finished with 10.
Following Wednesday’s road matchup against Boston College, the Red Storm will host the Syracuse Orangemen Sunday at noon in the team’s final home game of the season at Madison Square Garden.
St. John’s 73, Georgetown 70. The Red Storm turned in one of their best performances of the season last Wednesday, topping the No. 16 ranked Hoyas. Fordham finished with career highs in points (15) and rebounds (16) to lead St. John’s. Shaw added 16, Kyle Cuffe had 15 and Glover scored 13.
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 130.
