A 70-foot shot just before halftime gave St. John’s momentum, and L. J. Figueroa and the Red Storm used a strong defensive effort in the second half to surprise No. 13 Villanova. Figueroa had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and St. John’s rallied to beat the Wildcats, 71-65, on Sunday night. It was the first win for the Red Storm at Madison Square Garden against Villanova in 17 years, and they accomplished the feat in front of an energetic capacity crowd of nearly 20,000. “It was as loud as I can remember, maybe louder,” said St. John’s Coach Chris Mullin, a former Red Storm star. He added: “There are some great places to play college basketball, but when you get a full Madison Square Garden against a championship team like Villanova, there’s nothing like that. It’s awesome. It helped us. It kept us in the game and took us to another level.” Trailing by 17 late in the first half, the Red Storm (19-7, 7-6 Big East) scored the final 6 points, including Justin Simon’s shot from the opposite 3-point line that banked in just before the buzzer and made it 37-26.<doc-sep>After a truly awful first half, St. John’s battled back from a 19-point deficit to beat Villanova, 71-65. The Johnnies improve to 7-6 in conference and 19-7 overall, while Villanova drops to 11-2 in conference and 20-6 overall. St. John’s hits the road seeking some revenge at Providence. The first half represented the some of the worst basketball St. John’s has played this seasons. The Red Storm started by going to Mustapha Heron, who was guarded by Eric Paschall, seemingly with the intent to either get Paschall in foul trouble. After a handful of possessions, St. John’s went away from Heron and the offense devolved into an iso-heavy approach without clearing out the paint. There was little ball movement, as shown by the 3 assists in the half. There were even few uncontested shots with St. John’s going 9 of 29 from the field and 1 of 10 from deep. There was little offensive effectiveness with the Red Storm having an 8 minutes without a field goal. On the other end, Villanova got everything it wanted. The Wildcats got into the paint with ease, and finished at the rim going 4 of 5 on layups and converting its sole dunk attempt. When St. John’s collapsed, Villanova converted 8 of 20 from deep. With under 9 minutes remaining in the half, Villanova had a commanding 19 point lead and was well on its way to a blowout. But St. John’s did not lay down. Justin Simon and LJ Figueroa forced the issue late in the half finishing the half with 12 points (4/5 FG, 1/2 3PT) and 6 points (2/6 FG, 0/2 3PT), respectively. Simon hit a 3/4 court buzzer beater to cut VIllanova’s lead to 37-26 at halftime. In the second half, the Red Storm brought the intensity on defense holding Villanova to only 1 field goal prior to the U16 timeout. Despite the early effort defensively, offensive inefficiencies early in the half kept St. John’s from capitalizing. Marvin Clark II picked up a pair tic-tac fouls preventing him from contributing more than his second half 6 points (2/4 FG, 2/4 3PT), but his second three put him over 1,000 points for his college career. Figueroa started the half cold after helping the Red Storm close the gap prior to halftime. LJ was 0 of 5 from the field until he laid one in with just over 11 minutes remaining. Figueroa’s layup helped spearhead a 14-1 run that cut Villanova’s lead to 1, only for Heron to tie the game up moments later and Figueroa to take the lead soon thereafter. After his cold start to the half, Figueroa did some heavy lifting to maintain the lead. LJ finished the half with 16 points (4/10 FG, 3/4 3PT) and 9 boards. Villanova could not maintain any momentum in the second half offensively, going 5 of 24 from the field and 3 of 15 from beyond the arc after halftime. With less than a minute remaining, Villanova started to foul, and St. John’s converted their free-throws to hold onto a win, 71-65. St. John’s Red Storm LJ Figueroa: 22 points (6/16 FG, 3/6 3PT), 12 rebounds, 2 assists Mustapha Heron: 19 points (4/9 FG, 2/4 3PT), 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 turnovers Justin Simon: 13 points (4/6 FG, 1/2 3PT), 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 turnover Joe Cremo: 14 points (4/7 FG, 4/7 3PT), 4 rebounds, 2 assists Phil Booth: 13 points (2/11 FG, 0/6 3PT), 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 turnovers<doc-sep>"It was as loud as I can remember, maybe louder," St. John's coach Chris Mullin said. "I'm happy for them they got to experience that too. There's nothing like that. There are some great places to play college basketball, but when you get a full Madison Square Garden against a championship team like Villanova there's nothing like that. It's awesome. It helped us. It kept us in the game and took us to another level."<doc-sep>St. John’s may be looking at a “win-and-in” situation Sunday at the Garden. The Red Storm will face 13th-ranked Villanova in the 5 p.m. contest, and a win should be enough — barring a complete collapse — to get back into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015. Only two Big East teams — the Wildcats and No. 10 Marquette — have emerged as elite, and St. John’s would have three wins in four games against those two. Even though St. John’s has been maddeningly inconsistent and suffered some bad home losses, posting a 3-1 mark against Villanova and the Golden Eagles would make it difficult for the NCAA Tournament selection committee to pass on the Red Storm. “This game in particular, we look at it as if we take care of our business and leave with a win, we feel like we’re putting on our dancing shoes,” senior Marvin Clark II said. “That’s the mentality we’re taking to it and that’s the way we have to approach all of these last six games.” Clark has sheared the highly stylized hair and beard he had been sporting. He called the makeover “a business decision” and added, “It’s time to get down to it.” Subscribe to Sports Now newsletter By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy. St. John’s (18-7, 6-6 Big East) is in a third-place tie with Seton Hall and had a NET ranking of 49 going into Saturday’s games. The Red Storm played Villanova (20-5, 11-1) evenly for 35 minutes on the road Jan. 8 before the defending national champion made all the big plays in the final five minutes of a 76-71 decision. The Red Storm defeated the Wildcats in Philadelphia a year ago, 79-75. “We’re up for this game,” junior Mustapha Heron said. “We’re up for every game, but especially this one. Just know it’s a get-back game. They beat us at their place, so we want to defend our home turf . . . With the season they’re having, it would definitely help our tournament chances and our seeding.” Clark said, “I think — and it’s not a secret — that we’re far more talented. But what I think showed last game is that they have that championship mentality and championship culture. Never once did they get weary, even when we were making shots early and got a great lead. They kept at it and their two seniors [Phil Booth and Eric Paschall] led them to a win. That’s where we have to get better: finishing games.” The Red Storm has dissected the last five minutes of that loss to the Wildcats. Clark lamented Villanova’s late offensive rebounds that extended possessions and “were demoralizing.” Heron was disappointed that he was limited to eight points in 24 minutes by foul trouble and said, “That’s something I should be able to do better with.” “They’re very conscientious about it,” coach Chris Mullin said of learning from their mistakes. “We’ll have to play this game possession by possession.” Clark played his first two seasons at Michigan State before transferring and reached the 2015 Final Four with the Spartans. He said the feeling at St. John’s this February rivals what he felt with State that February. “It feels very similar,” he said. “We control our own destiny. It’s up to us to make or break our season.” CORRECTION: A previous version noted St. John's beat Villanova 79-75 at the Garden. The location of the game was incorrect.<doc-sep>
No. 13 Villanova entered the second half of play Sunday with a comfortable 11-point lead. It wouldn’t be enough by the final buzzer, as St. John’s came roaring back in the second half to pull off the upset, 71-65. SATURDAY HIGHLIGHTS: 6 lessons from the latest weekend of February basketball It hasn’t been an easy February for the Red Storm having to face three nationally-ranked teams in their first five games of the month. The Feb. 2 visit to Duke didn’t fare so well, resulting in a 30-point, 91-61 loss, but the last two have come in upset fashion. With a Feb. 5 win against No. 10 Marquette and now a thrilling comeback against Villanova, St. John’s is back in the mix as a threat come the Big East tournament. COMEBACK COMPLETE! What a win, what a building, what a team! #SJUBB erased a 19 first-half deficit against the defending national champs pic.twitter.com/oitvka2N9Y — St. John's BBall (@StJohnsBBall) February 18, 2019 St. John’s trailed by as many as 19 points but used a 20-5 second-half run to fuel the comeback. LJ Figueroa led the charge for the Red Storm, his huge 3 from the corner putting St. John’s ahead for the first time in the second half 54-53 with just over seven left. He finished with 20 points to lead all scorers. While Villanova won the battle on the boards, St. John’s turned the ball over just seven times. That margin had a lot to do with the unthinkable comeback. Both Villanova and St. John’s had three players record double-digit points, with Saddiq Bey, Phil Booth, and Joe Cremo scoring 11 a piece for the Wildcats. WHAT A COMEBACK! @StJohnsBBall erases a 19-point deficit and UPSETS No. 13 Villanova! #SJUBB pic.twitter.com/wmbtkUpXni — NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) February 18, 2019 It’s another big conference win for St. John’s. The Red Storm is now responsible for both of Marquette’s Big East losses and hands Villanova its second conference loss. While the Wildcats and Golden Eagles sit firmly atop the Big East, St. John’s has a big Feb. 23 matchup with Seton Hall looming that could help them climb the Big East ladder some more heading into March. COACH K MOVES UP: Duke's head coach becomes winningest in NCAA history