MBB: Villanova Beats St. John's To Complete First Half Of League Season
Villanova pulled away from St. John’s in the second half to post a 68-53 victory Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. The game marked the halfway point in the BIG EAST regular season. The Wildcats are alone in first place with an 8-1 record.
VU’s Josh Hart was the high scorer for the Wildcats with 16 points. Kris Jenkins added 14 points. Both players grabbed 11 rebounds. Ron Mvouika had 11 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for St. John’s.
One of the interesting occurrrences in the first half has been the success of road teams. Visiting teams own a 25-19 record after 45 games.
Villanova, the preseason favorite, is aiming for its third straight regular-season crown.
Xavier is in second place, one game back at 7-2. The Musketeers have been one of the nation’s surprising teams and have a 19-2 overall record.
Providence and Georgetown are tied for third with a 6-3 record. The Friars have Kris Dunn, a national Player of the Year candidate, and forward Ben Bentil, one of the country’s most surprising players. They are the league’s top two scorers.
Seton Hall and Creighton are 5-4 and tied for fifth place. Both teams have sights on postseason bids. The Hall is 15-6 overall, while Creighton is 14-8.
Marquette, a young squad that looks to be steadily improving, is 4-5 in the BIG EAST and 15-7 overall. Henry Ellenson has been lauded as one of the country’s top freshmen.
Butler, a team that has spent 10 weeks in the national polls, is 3-6 in league play and 14-7 overall.
DePaul has shown improvement, but only one league win to show so far for coach Dave Leitao.
St. John’s has virtually a new roster for coach Chris Mullin. The Red Storm have shown signs of being a strong program in the future.