St. John’s takes down another giant

St. John’s took down another of the nation’s elite, and stunned No. 1 Villanova 79-75 on Wednesday night in Philadelphia for its second win over a top-five team this week — and first over the top-ranked team in 33 years.

Shamorie Ponds scored 26 points to spark the Red Storm (12-13, 1-11 Big East) to its first conference win of the season and easily their best week since Chris Mullin was in uniform, not the coach.

Mullin played for St. John’s when it beat No. 1 Georgetown 66-65 on Jan. 26, 1985. And he was on the sideline exhorting his players in the final minutes of this shocker.

St. John’s beat then-No. 4 Duke Blue Devils 81-77 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, snapping an 11game losing streak. That was the first win for St. John’s since Dec. 20 against Saint Joseph’s.

Jalen Brunson, a leading candidate for national player of the year, nearly rallied the Wildcats (22-2, 9-2) to victory down the stretch. Brunson, who led the Wildcats with 28 points, converted a three-point play with 1:34 left to cut the deficit to 67-66. No. 2 survives: Devon Hall scored 17 points and Ty Jerome added 15 as No. 2 Virginia rallied in the second half to beat host Florida State 59-55.

Kyle Guy scored 10 of his 13 points in the final 20 minutes as the Cavaliers fought back from a 32-22 halftime deficit to remain unbeaten in the ACC. Virginia was 5 of 10 on 3pointers in the second half and committed just one turnover.

The Cavaliers (23-1) are the third team since 200001 to win its first 12 ACC games, joining North Carolina (2000-01) and Miami (2012-13).

It is the Cavaliers’ best conference start since they were 12-0 in 1980-81. Layups: Georgia Tech assistant coach Darryl LaBarrie has resigned during an ongoing NCAA investigation of an alleged rules violation. ... ESPN analyst Dick Vitale said he had heard it was possible that elite NBA prospect Michael Porter Jr. (back) could return for Missouri before the end of the season.