NEW YORK – Coming into Saturday night’s matchup, both St. John’s and Villanova were hot teams. Both were 4-1 in the Big East and both had won 8 of its last 9 games. They were achieving positive results in different ways. St. John’s had been doing it with defense and rebounding, while Villanova was doing it with efficient offense. Saturday night inside a packed and raucous Madison Square Garden, it was the defense and rebounding that carried the day, as the Red Storm pulled away late to beat Villanova, 80-68, in a pivotal Big East game.

As has been the case all season, St. John’s was not great on the offensive end, shooting just 40 percent from the field and 7-24 (29 percent) from three-point range. But the Red Storm outrebounded the Wildcats 44-28 and came up with key hustle plays and big shots when needed. Red Storm junior forward R.J. Luis led all scorers with a season-high 30 points and added 10 rebounds. Luis was only the fifth player in St. John’s history to notch 30 points and 10 rebounds in a game. 

“I think we’re physically and mentally a very tough team. That’s why we’re winning,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said. “We’re defying a lot of analytics with victories. Tonight we scored 80 points. I’m very happy we made seven threes. We don’t turn it over much. But I think what’s amazing and I think why the fans are turning out in droves, is how hard these guys work.”

My Day With Rick Pitino: Get Up, Show Up, Try to Keep Up
The Hall of Fame coach, now 72 and in his second season at St. John’s, hasn’t slowed one bit

St. John’s, which ranks No. 6 in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to KenPom, held Villanova to 39 percent shooting from the field and 38.5 percent from beyond the arc. The Wildcats came into the game shooting 49 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from three-point range. Luis carried St. John’s offensively in the second half. He scored 23 of his 30 points after the break, grabbed multiple key offensive rebounds down the stretch and made nine free throws in the last five minutes of the game.

“R.J.’s one of the most gifted players I’ve coached,” Pitino said. “He just refused to not rebound the ball with the game on the line like five different times. His toughness was incredible. He kept getting to the floor before everybody.”

“As a team collectively we’re all crashing the boards. I’m the one who ended up coming up with the rebounds,” Luis said. “Like Coach said, it’s that hustle and that grit and just playing hard. Even if the shots aren’t falling, like you guys are seeing on paper, saying that our three-point percentage is lacking. But I think it’s scary because we’re winning these big games and we’re not shooting the ball well, so I feel like the sky’s the limit.”

Luis was forced to take on a bigger role after senior guard Deivon Smith left the game late in the first half with a shoulder injury. Smith briefly returned to action with his shoulder heavily bandaged, but he missed the majority of the second half. Pitino said after the game that he did not think the injury was too serious, but that Smith could miss St. John’s next game versus Georgetown on Tuesday.

The win was another step in the right direction for St. John’s. The Johnnies entered Saturday ranked 33rd in the Net and 22nd in KenPom. The Red Storm lack signature wins, with its best ones coming versus New Mexico, at Providence , at Xavier and now Villanova at home. However, St. John’s has now won three straight Big East games to move to 5-1 in the conference and is tied for second place. Just as importantly, Madison Square Garden has become a true home court advantage for St. John’s again, which will only make the Johnnies even more formidable moving forward.

Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune can only hope that a tough road loss to St. John’s is simply a bump in the road after the Wildcats’ huge win over UConn earlier in the week. Offensively, Villanova has been elite this season (10th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency). The problem for the Wildcats has been on the defensive end, where they rank 177th in adjusted efficiency. 

Senior Wooga Poplar, a transfer from Miami, led Villanova with 22 points and had an array of impressive drives to the basket. Poplar is averaging 18.8 points in his last five games, giving Villanova a formidable big three on offense, along with seniors Eric Dixon (25.7ppg) and Jhamir Brickus (11.1ppg, 5.8apg).

It is no secret that there is pressure on Neptune to lead Villanova back to relevancy after having missed the NCAA Tournament in his first two seasons since taking over for the retired Hall of Famer Jay Wright. A slow start to this season only exacerbated that pressure. However, since December the Wildcats have been a top 25 level team, according to Barttorvik.com. If Villanova can sustain its current level of play, an NCAA Tournament berth is not unrealistic. Pitino thinks Villanova fans should be patient.

“Let [Neptune] grow, he’s a terrific coach,” Pitino said. “[Villanova runs] a great offensive scheme, they play great defense, brilliant things that they were doing offensively, makes it very difficult. Fan bases need to just chill out and let these coaches grow. I go back as far as when they wanted Coach K fired and I go back to early Villanova when they wanted Jay Wright gone. They were questioning Jay Wright and they were questioning Coach K. They had decent careers.”

Times are different now and patience is not in vogue. 

There is a lot of season left, but St. John’s future looks bright after Saturday night’s win. Villanova has more work to do, but despite the loss, the outlook for the Wildcats is not as bleak as it was a couple months ago.