St. John's Basketball: 3 keys to Red Storm upsetting No. 3 Villanova

St. John’s Basketball: 3 keys to Red Storm upsetting No. 3 Villanova

VILLANOVA, PA - FEBRUARY 26: Jermaine Samuels #23 of the Villanova Wildcats controls the ball against Julian Champagnie #2 of the St. John's Red Storm in the first half at Finneran Pavilion on February 26, 2020 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

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St. John’s Basketball Isaih Moore Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports /

A red-hot St. John’s Basketball squad will look for their biggest win of the season on Wednesday, hosting Villanova in a crucial Big East showdown.

With Villanova and Creighton leading the way in the Big East, the battle for the coveted third spot in the conference has been shared by a handful of different teams – but St. John’s Basketball has the opportunity to put themselves in the race with a daunting task ahead of them on Wednesday in the form of the Villanova Wildcats.

Xavier, UConn, Seton Hall, Providence, and Marquette have all had their names floated around as the third-best team in the Big East – but, with the exception of Villanova, no team in the Big East has been as hot as of late as the St. John’s Red Storm. The Johnnies have ripped off four-straight wins dating back to January 18th, with three of them coming on the road in conference play.

After dropping a 73-71 heartbreaker against Marquette, St. John’s rebounded in convincing fashion, handing the UConn Huskies their first loss in nearly a month – before handling Utah Valley and DePaul by double-digits. Most recently, the Johnnies capped off their hot streak by getting revenge on Marquette, taking them down by a 75-73 margin on the road on Sunday.

The Johnnies have struggled to pick up a season-defining win – but, with the exception of an overtime loss to Georgetown, none of their losses have necessarily been awful by any means. They have been swept by Creighton and own losses to BYU, Seton Hall, Xavier, and Marquette.

This tilt, however, will be their biggest challenge yet. The Villanova Wildcats have rallied off nine-straight wins since their November 28th loss to Virginia Tech, and – after facing nearly a month-long layoff – have most recently picked up two wins over Seton Hall and a 15-point victory over Providence.

The Wildcats own one of the best starting fives in college basketball, headlined by the two-man tandem of guard Collin Gillespie and post Jeremiah Robinson-Earl – both of whom are averaging 15.5 points apiece. Villanova’s most recent outing against Seton Hall saw both reach double-figures, with Robinson-Earl recording a game-high 23 points while Gillespie had a double-double of 11 points and 11 assists – while fellow starters Jermaine Samuels (17 points) and Justin Moore (16 points) joined them in double-digits.

At 11-7 overall, 78th in KenPom, and 85th in the latest NET rankings, the Johnnies are slowly – but surely – working their way into the bubble picture, but they still have much work to do in order to be in the playoff picture. A win over Villanova would do wonders in furthering the Red Storm’s chances of being on the bubble – but a loss may ultimately be the difference in keeping them out.

If Mike Anderson’s squad hopes to pull off the upset, then there are a few things that they will have to follow through on – and they are very much capable of sealing the deal.