New York: There is something special about big time College Basketball on a Saturday night & that is what we saw as the Villanova Wildcats took on the 15th-ranked St. John’s Red Storm from Madison Square Garden. The Red Storm comes into the game off a blowout loss to UConn, while Villanova made their way to MSG off a win over Butler
Lineup:
How the game went:
The Wildcats would get the scoring started by Bryce Lyndsay & then the Red Storm would go on an 11-0 run and get the sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden into a frenzy.
This play by Villanova Devin Askew, which cut into the lead & got everyone thinking this would be a close game
Going into this game, you would know that St John’s was going to show everyone that they can respond to losing by 40 to UConn. St John’s would just keep the pressure on the Wildcats as there would be a point where the Red Storm would have a lead of 30, YES, you are reading that correctly & that was at 40-18 late in the 1st half. St John’s would take a 48-23 lead & at this point, what would Villanova do to try to make this game competitive in the 2nd half
In the second half, the Wildcats would show that they can make this a game as they got the lead down to 17 on 3 pointer from Tyler Perkins & then St John’s responded and just continued to make things challenging for the Wildcats for the rest of the game. There would be a scary moment in the second half as Villanova Matt Hodge would back down the lane & went right down in a lot of pain & had to be helped up and did not put any pressure on his right leg.
After the game, Villanova Coach Kevin Willard said there was no update on the injury to Matt Hodge
St John’s would win this game 89-57 & now the question is how Villanova will respond from this loss of this magnitude.
Postgame:
Villanova Coach Kevin Willard on Loss to St John’s
Villanova Coach Kevin Willard on what you say to a young team after a loss like this:
St John’s Coach Rick Pitino about his decision to wear the White Suit
With Villanova losing tonight, they will be the Number 3 seed in the Big East Tournamrnt and that game will be on March 12 at 9:30 PM in the Quarterfinals.
Final Numbers:
What is next:
Villanova will now have to do what St John’s did in looking to bounce back from a blowout loss as they head back on the road at DePaul on Wednesday & then play their final home game on Saturday against Xavier.
