If Saturday night was disastrous, Tuesday evening was downright contempt for St. John’s.
The Red Storm’s NCAA tournament hopes were crushed by a 11-point loss in the Big-East punching bag DePaul. Just 8 days after knocking off the Wildcats in Queens, it was difficult for No. 8 Villanova to be full of discomfort.
After winning six straight games to enter the tournament, St. John’s is headed in the wrong direction as a March pass. The Red Storm lost to the Wildcats 81-58 for the third time in four games in Villanova, Pa.
The result was decided early. Villanova (15–3, 10–2 Big East) continued with a 17 point lead at halftime and as many as 26 in the second half as regression to St. John (14–10, 8–9). The Porus defense, poor shot selection and mournful rebounding – rebounded due to a 1–5 start in the conference early in the season. There was a lack of intensity, attention and poets.
St. John’s from 3-point range made only 3 of 23 attempts. Sophomore star Julian Champagni missed his first eight shots and was on 16 points in 5-for-18 shooting. Alexander, the Big East Freshman of the Year front-pornographer, played his third subpar game in four outings, with only four points and two assists, and suffered a late injury injury in the second half.
After Alexander was handcuffed in the first meeting, Villanova star Coleen Gillespie showed her way with St. John’s, scoring 14 points and five assists. He was one of four Wildcats in double figures.
St. John’s certainly did not seem to outweigh the loss at DePaul, especially in the first half. The same issues that led to that defeat – the inability to get in the paint, defending Dribble without help and being patient on offense. Johnnies fired 29 percent from the field and had only four assassins. Champagni missed his first eight shots, Villanova crushed St. John’s paint 18-6, and often looked wide-open with the movement of the ball.
The Wildcats gave 10 points out of the first 12 points of the game, an ominous sign. They had an 11-minute lead of less than eight minutes and the lead reached 20 points in the first half.
It did not get better after halftime. There were no rallies. There was some fire. Substandard shooting continued.
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