Villanova ran St. John’s out of Madison Square Garden in the quarterfinal round of the 2017 Big East Tournament.
If there is any question as to who the favorite in the Big East Tournament is, the Villanova Wildcats put thoughts of another loss to Butler to bed with their drubbing of St. John’s on Thursday afternoon.
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The Wildcats didn’t just beat the Red Storm, they notched the largest margin of victory in Big East Tournament history, running the Johnnies out of Madison Square Garden, 108-68.
Jay Wright’s team was stellar on both sides of the ball as their precision, efficiency and high IQ was on display all afternoon. The Wildcats shot 63 percent from the field, nailed 15 threes (51 percent) and hit 21 of their 25 free throws. They committed just eight turnovers all game and had an outstanding 23 assists on 36 field goals.
But the most impressive stat of the day was the fact that Nova committed just SEVEN fouls in 40 minutes, including ZERO in the first half. St. John’s shot just nine free throws as the Wildcats contested every layup at the rim with perfection execution. They keep the ball in front of them on the perimeter, help when a defender does attack off the dribble and have players who understand the fundamentals that superb defensive teams possess.
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Kris Jenkins, who has struggled with his shot throughout most of Big East play, scored 24 points on 8-of-18 shooting (5-of-13 from three) and dished out six assists. He had the first nine points for Villanova and used his pump fake to help keep the Johnnies’ off-balance.
Beyond Jenkins, the Wildcats also had Donte DiVincenzo (25 points), Eric Paschall (17 points), Josh Hart (15 points), Jalen Brunson (14 points) and Dylan Painter (10 points) who all scored in double figures. The only two regular rotation players who didn’t put up 10+ points were Darryl Reynolds and Mikal Bridges, who left early in the game due to a stomach virus.
This wasn’t an expected result, though. Not only did St. John’s finish 8th in the Big East standings but they played Georgetown less than 15 hours ago in a physical, emotion battle. The Johnnies didn’t play terrible offensively — they shot 57 percent in the second half — but Shamorie Ponds hit just 3 of his 9 shots and their defense was non-existent for most of the afternoon. The Johnnies bought on pump fakes, provided no resistance on the interior and failed to shutdown DiVincenzo for the third time this season.
St. John’s 2016-17 season was much improved from their 2015-16 campaign (Mullin’s first year when they won just eight games), so it looks like this program is headed in the proper direction. However, they have ways to go to be competitive on the biggest stage in the Big East.
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Meanwhile, the Wildcats advance to Friday night’s semifinals where they will play the winner of today’s Seton Hall-Marquette match-up. Villanova will be a hefty favorite in that one no matter who they play.