(Photo credit to Bob Dea/Daly Dose of Hoops)
VILLANOVA, PA – Coming out of the starting gate strong, were both programs in front of a solid Christmas-break crowd along the Main Line in Philadelphia.
The St. John’s Red Storm (11-2, 1-1 BIG EAST) fell to the Villanova Wildcats (7-5, 1-0 BIG EAST) by a score of 78-63 inside Finneran Pavilion on Wednesday night.
After going 11-1 in non-conference and the Big East opener alike, it was deemed a game for the Johnnies that would determine if they were ready for the NCAA Tournament. Things went differently than planned down the stretch of the first half.
A solid start for redshirt senior Montez Mathis, who sank home a pair of triples from the corners, allowed St. John’s to pull away from Villanova before freshman AJ Storr took over the ballgame over himself and led the Red Storm on a 13-0 run, with eight of those points from him alone.
The rookie comes out on FIRE 🔥
8-straight for AJ Storr off the bench! pic.twitter.com/SnmRaJySPi
— St. John's Men’s Basketball (@StJohnsBBall) December 21, 2022
Head coach Mike Anderson took out the freshman with about six minutes remaining in the first half.
Dominating in the paint was almost a given for this Johnnies team after doing a fabulous job during non-conference play. St. John’s was in complete control of the game by shooting 11-for-23 from the floor (48%) and cruising from distance (4-for-9 3ptFG%). They also lead the way in offensive rebounds.
David Jones then sent home his lone triple of the game to give the Johnnies a game-high 11-point edge, with the Wildcats in chaos on both sides of the ball. The Jones triple also broke an 0-for-8 shooting trend at the time for the Johnnies.
Jones from deeeep! 😤 @StJohnsBBall pic.twitter.com/8ldoGFrhmk
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) December 22, 2022
Then, things went downhill, and there was no return for the Red Storm.
Villanova also was at six turnovers at this point of the game. On average, during non-conference play, the Wildcats had averaged just nine turnovers per game.
here comes @NovaMBB! pic.twitter.com/wr1een8XBv
— BIG EAST MBB (@BIGEASTMBB) December 22, 2022
After the Jones triple and the Storr substitution, Villanova put together a 13-2 run to tie the game at 31. At this point, Anderson didn’t call a timeout until the Wildcats tacked on four more points, courtesy of Brandon Slater and Caleb Daniels. The former earned the bucket off a Red Storm turnover.
BIG TIME THREE! Tie game! 🤩@jbrandonslater x @NovaMBB pic.twitter.com/TfEoAaANJg
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) December 22, 2022
Sitting on the bench with eight points in just seven minutes was the freshman AJ Storr, favored over the struggling guards Posh Alexander and Andre Curbelo. Granted, who would say no to that? Experience trumps anything.
But, when the hand is hot? You ride it until it’s hot! Or so we thought.
Storr disappeared after the quick eight points because “he was tired.”
Secondary scoring?
Very little.
Villanova continued its shooting ways while dominating the paint and simply running laps around the Johnnies, which eventually led to a 26-6 run with about a third of the game to go. The Wildcats had its lead up to nine, 44-35.
It was a tough go for the Johnnies following some questionable rotations and questionable timeout calls, too, as they surrendered 60 points after their first-half outburst (26:16) to just a measly 34 points on the offensive end of things.
The stars in Curbelo and Alexander combined for 6-of-23 from the floor, with just two offensive rebounds coming from the latter. The former, in Curbelo, did, grab five defensive rebounds.
“They’ve got to be better,” Anderson commented. “Conference play, whether we play at home or on the road, they’ve got to be better.”
“We were right there within striking distance.”
Double-double machine in center Joel Soriano tallied his ninth of the season, where he notched a team-high 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while shooting 7-for-12 from the floor. David Jones did not have a great night either; he shot four-of-14 from the floor and just one-of-five from distance.
Dylan Addae-Wusu, who tallied 20 in the Florida State game on Saturday evening, saw the floor for 24 minutes and added just a lone bucket in five total shot attempts. Four of which came from a distance.
Storr finished the night as the second-leading scorer for St. John’s with 15 points in six-of-nine from the floor and a team-high three triples in 18 minutes.
When asked about Storr’s extended absence? Anderson responded with, “he was tired.”
“The guy had been out there for a while. He was tired.”
Where was Rafael Pinzon, one might ask? Anderson claimed in the postgame press conference that he was healthy and available. He only played in just two minutes in the Florida State victory. This is something to keep a keen eye on as we move further and further into conference play.
The Johnnies had a marquee opportunity to start the Big East season with a pair of victories, but self-inflicted wounds on both sides of the basketball prevented that from coming to fruition.
Next week, the tasks get even taller as one of the best three-point shooting teams in the nation, Xavier Musketeers, makes its way from Cincinnati to New York to take on the Red Storm inside Carnesecca Arena, on Wednesday, December 28, for a 9 PM showdown.
