Villanova Advances With 108-67 Win Over St. John's
By SEAN BRENNAN
Special to BIGEAST.com
The numbers surrounding the vaunted Villanova senior class are stunning to say the least.
In no particular order, the trio of Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins and Darryl Reynolds have been part of four straight BIG EAST regular season championships, captured the BIG EAST Tournament crown in 2015, have been part of Wildcats teams that have posted a stellar 125-16 overall record in their four seasons along with a 63-9 conference mark, have never, ever, ever lost back-to-back games in their career (think about that for a minute) and, oh yeah, won the National Championship last season.
Ok, maybe that last nugget should have been listed first. But you get the point - all this senior class has done is win and win often. Thursday afternoon they were at it again, making their first move on a second BIG EAST Tournament title in three years as the Wildcats built a 26-point lead by halftime and never looked back as top-seeded Villanova disposed of the No. 8 Johnnies, 108-67, in the opener of the quarterfinal-round at Madison Square Garden.
The victory was Villanova’s 12th straight vs. St. John’s and 18 in the last 19 in the series. The 41-point margin of victory also ties the BIG EAST Tournament record which was set by Syracuse when the Orange knocked off Boston College, 96-55, on March 3, 1999. The 108 points also set a school record for the Wildcats (29-3) for points in a BIG EAST Tournament game with their previous high mark being the 96 points they hung on Pittsburgh on March 4, 1998. It is the fifth 100-point game.
The loss ends a turnaround season for St. John’s (14-19) as they posted seven conference wins this season after managing just one a season ago, finished with 14 wins overall and unveiled their supreme backcourt of the future in Marcus LoVett and Shamorie Ponds. Better days are surely ahead for the Johnnies.
But Villanova was the story of the day Thursday as it is on most days. The Wildcats were a precision machine in the first half as they shot 51.5% from the floor and 45% from three-point range, saw Jenkins, the national championship hero drill a long three-pointer at the buzzer at the end of the half, one that was a little reminiscent of his game-winner over North Carolina last April, and simply run the Johnnies out of the building as the Red Storm clearly looked gassed after Wednesday night’s emotionally and physically-draining victory over Georgetown.
One other thing, the Wildcats were whistled for no fouls in the first half, a feat no one, including Villanova head coach Jay Wright, could ever remember happening.
“I’m really proud of our performance, obviously,” said Wright, whose ‘Cats thrived even more in the second half when they shot a mind-numbing 79.2% from the field. “We have seniors, Josh Hart. Kris was outstanding offensively, but Josh Hart just set the tone defensively on the boards, getting shots for his teammates, not trying to do too many things, not trying to prove he is the player of the year in the conference, just going out there and playing for his teammates.”
Yes, Hart was Hart, as always. He finished with 15 points, six rebounds, five assists and even three steals. And yes Jenkins was sensational offensively, netting 24 points on the day. But what the Wildcats also did – and it seemed almost unfair at the time – was unleash their next generation offensive weapon when Donte DiVincenzo lapped up his first taste of the BIG EAST Tournament by scoring a career-high 25 points while shooting a scorching 5-of-6 from three-point range.
And that’s not even mentioning Jalen Brunson or Eric Paschall. Brunson logged 14 points with five assists while Paschall, the Fordham transfer, added 17 points with five boards. Even newcomer Dylan Painter made the most of his first BIG EAST Tournament experience by scoring 10 points to go along with his six rebounds.
Yes, Villanova owns an embarrassment of riches for sure.
“Going into the game I was confident, as in every game,” DiVincenzo said. “But the only thing I can say about the 25 is it’s all because of the seniors and Jalen. Everybody was making the right play and I found myself open and today I was knocking down shots.”
DeVincenzo obviously likes playing the Johnnies as his previous career-high of 20 points also came against the Red Storm back on Feb. 4.
Most of the second half was spent wondering how high Nova’s point totals would climb while fans took bathroom breaks, updated their Facebook profiles, did some online banking and just bided their time until Seton Hall-Marquette tipped off.
The drama was long gone. All that was left to do was watch the brilliance of Villanova in action.